Eureka, CA - A jam-packed audience attended a public workshop that aired concerns surrounding controversial logging plans by Maxxam/Pacific Lumber and the flooded-out residents who oppose them. In front of a standing room only crowd that spilled into the lobby, opposing sides gave their best to convince the North Coast Regional Water Board that they should – or shouldn’t – approve permits for waste discharge for logging in two impaired Humboldt County valleys.

The furor over the dozen logging plans started last November, when the Water Board declined to grant logging permits after PL refused to turn over landslide data on their timber lands. “Interim” permits were granted for four plans in the impaired watersheds after PL claimed a shortage of logs. PL has since been cited for violations in all four logging plans less than a month after cutting began. 38 mill workers were laid-off in January while PL pointed fingers at the Water Board. Maxxam CEO Charles Hurwitz had a January private meeting with Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to promote his logging agenda, though local residents did not receive a similar opportunity.

Water Board Executive Officer Catherine Kuhlman said the final decision on the logging plans will be announced soon. Read more.