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County should act where state fails on frackingPlease know that DOGGR is not doggedly watching over your safety.DOGGR stands for the Division of Oil, Gas and Geothermal Resources — part of California’s Conservation Department.

It is a shame that last week’s letter to the editor — about SB 4 assuring the safety of fracking — is incorrect. Instead, analysis of Senate Bill 4, Well Stimulation Treatment Regulations, shows that even the most recent revisions (in October) are inadequate.

The newer SB4 has weaker reporting requirements regarding earthquake activity tested in the vicinity of fracking. DOGGR now states that earthquakes measuring less than 2.7 are irrelevant. Yet available research shows otherwise.Although the Butte County Planning Commission did not have specific recommendations regarding a ban at its Dec. 11 meeting, we are hopeful that the Board of Supervisors will soon ban fracking. Such an ounce of prevention can prevent a mountain of problems affecting our farming, our health, and the quantity and quality of our ground and surface waters — so vital to Butte County’s economic and people’s well-being. — Grace M. Marvin, Chico

Butte County supervisors must act on fracking banThousands of Butte County citizens joined members of Frack-free Butte County, Butte Environmental Council and the Sierra Club to demonstrate our desire for a ban against fracking in our petition to the county last year.

Since then, numerous health, water, air, disposal, climate, transport, soil, seismic and other problems with fracking were described in letters to the editor. In April, the Butte County Board of Supervisors asked the Planning Commission staff to develop a ban; it was tighter than our own ban. Now the time has arrived for the board to sign onto the staff’s excellent ban.

Chico >> Fifty years from now there should be more shade at the parking lot at Horseshoe Lake.Volunteers had their hands covered with mud Saturday while planting blue oak acorns.Normally this might be a job for squirrels. However, new seedlings have a tough time at Horseshoe Lake with people and dogs are running and walking over the area year-round.Saturday, a group organized by the Butte Environmental Council did all that they could to give the new acorns a great chance at survival.

Danielle Baxter, project coordinator for the Oak Restoration Project.

Saturday was the fourth planting day this year, with a total of 120 holes dug and filled.

Putting environmentalists and residential well-users on equal footing with farmers, the Butte County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a resolution Tuesday (June 26) supporting the Butte Environmental Council’s involvement in groundwater management.

On a recent Saturday, three staffers with the Butte Environmental Council were demonstrating how to build a simple contraption to harvest the rain.

Illegal in California before 2012, rain barrels aren’t going to save the Delta Smelt, spring run salmon or next year’s almond crop. But they can irrigate gardens, reduce water bills and reduce loads on sewage plants. If adopted widely enough, the water saved becomes a lot more than a few drops in the proverbial bucket.

To her consternation, Strachan’s colleagues had declined to consider a resolution put forth by the Butte Environmental Council for the county to recognize BEC as a representative of groundwater interests. Supervisors previously passed a comparable resolution for an agricultural group.

Natalie Carter, BEC’s executive director, echoed Strachan’s perspective on equal representation. “Farmers say, ‘We represent domestic users—we have domestic wells,’ and they do, and they absolutely have a shared perspective in that,” Carter said. “They don’t want their domestic wells to go dry. “That’s not to say we shouldn’t have a voice for someone who is only a domestic well user and doesn’t have ties to the agricultural interests in this community, which are so valuable, but shouldn’t be the only voice at the table.” In seeking recognition from the county, BEC wants to become a—not the— representative for users of groundwater from shallow depths. That’s the connection BEC sees between advocacy for groundwater-dependent ecosystems and homeowners who depend on wells—and why Carter says it’s important for the county to recognize multiple constituencies. “[SGMA conveys] a 50-year horizon to sustainability,” she added. “The whole design is local control, and our local voices include a wide variety.”

Dozens of dirt diggers are still gazing at frost-damaged plants in south Chico. But there's an eye toward spring. The Humboldt Community Garden is in the middle of an expansion. Winter weeds are being turned over to create new working space for nine new garden plots. This will add to the 45 areas that have already been cultivated at the 14-acre garden spot at El Monte Avenue and Humboldt Road. The Butte Environmental Council — http://goo.gl/wwyrP — spearheaded the garden last spring across from Marsh Junior High School. The city of Chico leased the land, and organizers charge $30-$70 a year for water.

Regulate plastic bags As a student and Butte Environmental Council intern interested in a sustainable future, I am submitting this letter in support of the Chico City Council’s voting to restrict plastic-bag use. California uses an estimated 400 plastic bags per second, requiring an estimated 12 million barrels of oil annually. Only 3 percent of plastic bags are recycled, and the thermosetting process used to mold plastic bags is irreversible, creating a product that is not biodegradable. These bags end up in the streams, creeks, rivers and eventually the ocean. On the bags’ journey to the sea, the plastic breaks down into smaller pieces, absorbing toxic chemicals along the way. These contaminated bits of plastic contribute to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is twice the size of Texas. At least 267 marine species have been documented to be adversely affected by plastic debris. California spends $25 million annually to manage plastic-bag pollution and $303 million in litter reduction. If consumers were to utilize reusable bags instead, we could reduce waste and water pollution and contribute to the local economy by allowing wonderful companies such as ChicoBag to further their commitment to consumer safety. Lindsay McDonnell Chico

the new community garden on Humboldt Ave. (at El Monte) has a lot of open space.

Butte Environmental Council

People who show up at the garden have built enviable raised beds and a tarpless tee-pee for beans. A work day is planned for 8 am. (when its cool) until noon Saturday. BEC executive director Robyn DiFalco said they'll be planting ornamentals and generally moving dirt around. You can also show up and decide if you want to rent your own garden plot, which starts at $25 to pay for water and insurance.

Chico Enterprise-RecordPosted:   03/13/2014 08:01:01 PM PDTCommunity members may help at the Oak Way Community Garden work day, 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, at 1400 W. Eighth St. Volunteers should bring gloves and drinking water. Cultivating Community North Valley and the Butte Environmental Council are hosting the work day. Information about this event and others scheduled for the future are available online at cultivatingcommunitynv.org.

On a recent summer morning, Dave Garcia, the political chair of the Sierra Club’s Northern California Yahi chapter, occasionally interrupted a tour of gas wells in the Sutter Buttes to point out signs of wildlife: a scampering cottontail rabbit, a vigilant red-tailed hawk or whizzing western kingbirds. Garcia had brought a pair of journalists here to witness fracking in the Northern Sacramento Valley, something that most Northern Californians probably have no idea is underway in this area. The well sites appear almost deserted—there are no gas flares, no trucks moving huge tanks of water, no towering pump jacks. In fact, rarely were people even seen at these electronically monitored stations.

Property owners who lease land don’t always fare well with the oil giants, either. A Glenn County landowner contacted the Butte Environmental Council (BEC) earlier this year after an exchange with a company that drills for gas on her property. She was worried about fracking and had become reluctant to sign over mineral rights. The company told her it wasn’t fracking, but if she didn’t renew the contract, it could access gas on her land from a neighboring parcel, according to BEC.

Though FracFocus doesn’t show fracked wells in Butte County, Garcia says he’s identified 10 active gas wells in the county. Once natural-gas prices start climbing back up, the wells could be subject to fracking, he said. “These companies are going to be going to the old gas wells they have in Butte County and reworking them,” Garcia said. “That’s why it’s critical to get a moratorium.” California’s fracking story has really just begun.

The city hasn’t forgotten about its Climate Action Plan

This article was published on 04.17.14.

In November 2012, the Chico City Council put its official stamp on sustainability by adopting a municipal Climate Action Plan. The blueprint, honed by the city’s Sustainability Task Force, laid out a two-stage approach for addressing the impacts of climate change and meeting greenhouse-gas standards established by the state.

If it takes a village to raise a child, for me it takes a community to grow vegetables.

This year, we made a friend. His name is Mark Stemen, head of the Butte Environmental Council, and he introduced us to the idea of community gardening. Knowing we have a program for at-risk youth called Wilderness Experience, Mark encouraged us to lease a plot at Humboldt Community Garden to teach the kids the benefits of gardening.

The first time I talked to Mark about the garden, he told me his philosophy: the most important word in Community Garden isn't garden. He is absolutely correct. So far, we have done nothing by ourselves. Every time we go to the garden, we meet new people who are happy to be there, gardening alongside us. We use the tools provided by the community, the compost and the water. We were given some of the plants, and someone even gave us a hose when they saw ours was too short. We've chatted up our plot-neighbors for recipe ideas and tips on when to harvest our vegetables.

CHICO >> For Lynsey and Jimmie Pratt, getting married in the Humboldt Community Garden was almost like getting married in their back yard. The garden is where they spend a lot of their time, share tasks they love and hang out with friends. When they thought about the perfect place to dive into the next stage of their lives, the garden made perfect sense. A community garden is a shared piece of land, where each person gets a small plot. In this case, the garden is run by the Butte Environmental Council. Gardeners pay a small fee to cover the water bill.

As far as the couple knows, they are the second to get hitched at the Humboldt Community Garden. The other couple had a very private affair.

Oroville >> After a relatively brief public hearing Tuesday, the Butte County Board of Supervisors approved an ordinance that would ban the storage or disposal of fracking waste within the county.The vote regarding the waste generated by injecting fluids into the ground to stimulate oil and natural gas production was 4-1.

The ordinance defines key fracking terms, creates a land-use category about storing or disposing fracking waste or byproduct and then bans such storage and disposal within the county.

Six of the seven members of the public that commented on the proposal openly supported the ordinance. Members of the Butte Environmental Council and Frack-Free Butte County spoke.