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Indybay Feature
PL Stalls Water Quality Meeting
Press release from the Humboldt Watershed Council.
Eureka, CA - Pacific Lumber Company has succeeded in getting the Court to delay this week's long-anticipated Regional Water Board (RWB) hearings. PL sought and received a temporary restraining order (TRO) to prevent this week's scheduled hearings on the Watershed-Wide Waste Discharge Requirements (WWWDRs) for Elk River and Freshwater.
The 9 Regional Water Board members and dozens of staff were already in the area for the hearing when they received word of Judge Watson's decision. Also expected were many interested people from around the state, including other agency personnel, media, and representatives of Scotia Pacific’s bondholders. The Board will continue with their scheduled public meeting for Wednesday, the 14th, but without the hearing on the WWWDRs.
Judge Watson granted the TRO after about 2 hours of arguments by attorneys for PL and the State Attorney General's office, representing the Regional Water Board. Also seeking the TRO was Frank Bacik, one of PL's regular attorneys, now fronting for a group of PL supporters calling themselves the "Owners". In past proceedings, court filings for the "Owners" have been sent from Scotia Pacific's offices in Scotia. Bacik has refused to divulge who pays his bills.
Palco has already had 22 months of lead time to prepare for these permits. These hearings had been publicly noticed 80 days in advance (since June 27th), but PL waited until last Friday afternoon to challenge the process. This cynical move by PL assured that the hearing on the TRO would be held the day before the RWB hearings, creating maximum disruption and hardship to those involved.
Judge Watson's decision indefintely postpones these hearings, casting aside nearly 2 years of procedural effort by the Regional Water Board. Additionally, Watson's decision puts at risk 8 years of studies, meetings, hearings, reports, motions, and appeals. The potential loss of many years of taxpayer investment is likely many millions of dollars.
In the more immediate term, this flawed ruling will likely impact more than one-hundred individuals who have planned and prepared for these long-awaited hearings, and who were already in transit from Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, and other parts of the state. Many of those impacted by Judge Watson's ruling have hundreds, or even thousands, of hours of time invested in these permits and these hearings.
Judge Watson apparently did not understand the tremendous investment in time and taxpayer dollars that he was so blithely casting aside. This flawed ruling tramples on the public interest, at great cost to hundreds of individuals and to the people of the State of California.
The Judge’s lack of awareness of the consequences of his ruling was made painfully obvious by the way in which the ruling was released to the parties. At 5:01pm, the decision was faxed to the now-closed offices of the attorneys in Sacramento, Santa Rosa, San Francisco, and Ukiah. Since it was after hours and all of the relevant attorneys were all in Eureka and thus not at their desks, there was great confusion for nearly 2 hours as the attorneys for the Regional Board and the Attorney General’s office all tried to find out whether the next day’s meeting would take place or not.
Mark Lovelace, President of the Humboldt Watershed Council, said “This last minute disruption by Pacific Lumber Company is a perfect illustration of just why it is that so many people in our county feel the way they do about Pacific Lumber. This company's bullying tactics and abusive behavior have driven a wedge through our community, fueling division, and playing neighbor against neighbor.”
“The company has consistently shown that they care nothing for public process, health and safety, private property, regulatory authority, or the public interest” Lovelace continued. “The company has also made it quite clear that it has little accomodation for truth, law, or science. PL' is willing to subvert any virtue in pursuit of its own, cynical self interest.”
During the proceedings, PL’s attorney had solicited muffled laughter from the audience when he countered facts about the company’s track record of violations and non-compliance by stating “This is the new PL.”
“There is no ‘new PL”, said Lovelace. “This is the same old arrogance and abusive behavior that people have come to know and expect from this company.”
The Humboldt Watershed Council's previous announcement on these hearings had noted "past history tells us that simply having the truth and the law on one's side doesn't necessarily carry the day."
Noting this, Lovelace said “Perhaps Judge Watson's decision should not be surprising, but it is still tremendously disappointing when the Court so blatantly harms the public interest.”
##
The 9 Regional Water Board members and dozens of staff were already in the area for the hearing when they received word of Judge Watson's decision. Also expected were many interested people from around the state, including other agency personnel, media, and representatives of Scotia Pacific’s bondholders. The Board will continue with their scheduled public meeting for Wednesday, the 14th, but without the hearing on the WWWDRs.
Judge Watson granted the TRO after about 2 hours of arguments by attorneys for PL and the State Attorney General's office, representing the Regional Water Board. Also seeking the TRO was Frank Bacik, one of PL's regular attorneys, now fronting for a group of PL supporters calling themselves the "Owners". In past proceedings, court filings for the "Owners" have been sent from Scotia Pacific's offices in Scotia. Bacik has refused to divulge who pays his bills.
Palco has already had 22 months of lead time to prepare for these permits. These hearings had been publicly noticed 80 days in advance (since June 27th), but PL waited until last Friday afternoon to challenge the process. This cynical move by PL assured that the hearing on the TRO would be held the day before the RWB hearings, creating maximum disruption and hardship to those involved.
Judge Watson's decision indefintely postpones these hearings, casting aside nearly 2 years of procedural effort by the Regional Water Board. Additionally, Watson's decision puts at risk 8 years of studies, meetings, hearings, reports, motions, and appeals. The potential loss of many years of taxpayer investment is likely many millions of dollars.
In the more immediate term, this flawed ruling will likely impact more than one-hundred individuals who have planned and prepared for these long-awaited hearings, and who were already in transit from Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Santa Rosa, and other parts of the state. Many of those impacted by Judge Watson's ruling have hundreds, or even thousands, of hours of time invested in these permits and these hearings.
Judge Watson apparently did not understand the tremendous investment in time and taxpayer dollars that he was so blithely casting aside. This flawed ruling tramples on the public interest, at great cost to hundreds of individuals and to the people of the State of California.
The Judge’s lack of awareness of the consequences of his ruling was made painfully obvious by the way in which the ruling was released to the parties. At 5:01pm, the decision was faxed to the now-closed offices of the attorneys in Sacramento, Santa Rosa, San Francisco, and Ukiah. Since it was after hours and all of the relevant attorneys were all in Eureka and thus not at their desks, there was great confusion for nearly 2 hours as the attorneys for the Regional Board and the Attorney General’s office all tried to find out whether the next day’s meeting would take place or not.
Mark Lovelace, President of the Humboldt Watershed Council, said “This last minute disruption by Pacific Lumber Company is a perfect illustration of just why it is that so many people in our county feel the way they do about Pacific Lumber. This company's bullying tactics and abusive behavior have driven a wedge through our community, fueling division, and playing neighbor against neighbor.”
“The company has consistently shown that they care nothing for public process, health and safety, private property, regulatory authority, or the public interest” Lovelace continued. “The company has also made it quite clear that it has little accomodation for truth, law, or science. PL' is willing to subvert any virtue in pursuit of its own, cynical self interest.”
During the proceedings, PL’s attorney had solicited muffled laughter from the audience when he countered facts about the company’s track record of violations and non-compliance by stating “This is the new PL.”
“There is no ‘new PL”, said Lovelace. “This is the same old arrogance and abusive behavior that people have come to know and expect from this company.”
The Humboldt Watershed Council's previous announcement on these hearings had noted "past history tells us that simply having the truth and the law on one's side doesn't necessarily carry the day."
Noting this, Lovelace said “Perhaps Judge Watson's decision should not be surprising, but it is still tremendously disappointing when the Court so blatantly harms the public interest.”
##
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Would like to point out the correlation between suburban sprawl and clearcutting and higher rates of logging throughout the forests of the west. Everyday trucks meet trains that transport large quantities of wood towards the southern state, Central Valley and foothills. Some wood goes out of state and/or country via the ports. The suburban sprawl of McMansions is a side effect of the excess quantities of wood, yet still no low income housing available. Redwood products are used to build outdoor furniture and decks or siding, mostly for looks. Most of the suburban houses are much larger than the small families that reside in them..
Suburban sprawl started in the fifties as "white flight", when upper middle class European Americans chose to live further from the cities in larger houses. This was primarily a result of (racism) avoiding lower income people of color or immigrants who entered the working class neighborhoods in the cities. Mass production of motor vehicles made this lifestyle a reality. Suitable housing in inner cities became abandoned and neglected after suburbia became a lifestyle. Any urban redevelopment program demolishes older buildings, evicts low income tenants and replaces them with yuppie condos. This creates additional problems by forcing lower income people into homelessness while ignoring the problems created by sprawl..
Suburban sprawl is not only unsustainable with excess petroleum consumption (lack of public transit) and resulting smog formation, but also unsustainable in the amount of wood needed to build each suburban McMansion. Not to mention other habitat, either farmlands, wetlands, vernal pools, desert, are often paved over to make room for the latest developer's wet dream suburban monocultura housing tract..
Low income housing could be made available with far less wood, smaller buildings with shared walls can save on both heating costs and materials required for building. While people enjoy their space often a community can live and work closely together without intruding on individual privacy. The developers favor the larger suburban sprawl mansions because they can become wealthy fast, similar to Maxxam/PL's clearcutting. There isn't any effective pressure put on developers to encourage them to use less wood by building more modest low income housing. We witness instead the vicious circle of increased logging and increased suburban sprawl..
Other options besides using wood for building are recycled material, cob straw bale or adobe housing. Hemp particle board could also provide insulation and protection from the elements. Part of the reason WR Hearst (timber tycoon)campaigned to make hemp illegal was fear of competition with his centralized forest products monopoly. If everyone grew a little hemp near their home and had a community processing mill where the hemp was pulped (paper, fiber, boards, etc..), there would be a steady and reliable income for the population and no dependency on timber barons like Hearst, Hurwitz, Weyerhauser, Red Emmerson (SPI), etc..
How can sustainable growth and anti-sprawl activists in the C-valley, SoCal and elsewhere join campaigns with forest defenders to expose the suburban sprawl developers as a cause (or effect) of massive corporate timber clearcut deforestations on the coast and to the north?
luna moth
Suburban sprawl started in the fifties as "white flight", when upper middle class European Americans chose to live further from the cities in larger houses. This was primarily a result of (racism) avoiding lower income people of color or immigrants who entered the working class neighborhoods in the cities. Mass production of motor vehicles made this lifestyle a reality. Suitable housing in inner cities became abandoned and neglected after suburbia became a lifestyle. Any urban redevelopment program demolishes older buildings, evicts low income tenants and replaces them with yuppie condos. This creates additional problems by forcing lower income people into homelessness while ignoring the problems created by sprawl..
Suburban sprawl is not only unsustainable with excess petroleum consumption (lack of public transit) and resulting smog formation, but also unsustainable in the amount of wood needed to build each suburban McMansion. Not to mention other habitat, either farmlands, wetlands, vernal pools, desert, are often paved over to make room for the latest developer's wet dream suburban monocultura housing tract..
Low income housing could be made available with far less wood, smaller buildings with shared walls can save on both heating costs and materials required for building. While people enjoy their space often a community can live and work closely together without intruding on individual privacy. The developers favor the larger suburban sprawl mansions because they can become wealthy fast, similar to Maxxam/PL's clearcutting. There isn't any effective pressure put on developers to encourage them to use less wood by building more modest low income housing. We witness instead the vicious circle of increased logging and increased suburban sprawl..
Other options besides using wood for building are recycled material, cob straw bale or adobe housing. Hemp particle board could also provide insulation and protection from the elements. Part of the reason WR Hearst (timber tycoon)campaigned to make hemp illegal was fear of competition with his centralized forest products monopoly. If everyone grew a little hemp near their home and had a community processing mill where the hemp was pulped (paper, fiber, boards, etc..), there would be a steady and reliable income for the population and no dependency on timber barons like Hearst, Hurwitz, Weyerhauser, Red Emmerson (SPI), etc..
How can sustainable growth and anti-sprawl activists in the C-valley, SoCal and elsewhere join campaigns with forest defenders to expose the suburban sprawl developers as a cause (or effect) of massive corporate timber clearcut deforestations on the coast and to the north?
luna moth
The ruling is posted on the Water Board's website, swrcb.ca.gov. It doesn't throw out the WWDR process. All this boo-hoo-de-hoo from Lovelace is ridiculous.
Just wanted to remind everyone that one less old growth redwood tree exists today as of last year when Maxxam/PL raided the Aradia treesit and within one afternoon took the life of this almost 700 year old giant. Aradia had a few more centuries to go before completing her life cycle, i guess the CEO of Maxxam couldn't wait more than a few days to increase his already excessive profit margin. Aradia fell along with several other old growths and the remainder of the habitat looked like a warzone after a few weeks. Madrones, firs, and redwoods all branches and trunks pointing every which direction like a tornado just went through there. This devastation was not a natural event, the corporate profit motive is a result of an economy based on short term profit, not ecological cycles..
All the extra profits from these old growth trees means more junk bonds to buy and sell, eh Mr. Hurwitz? BTW Mr. Hurwitz, how's your former business partners from the Savings and Loan scandal days Micheal Milkin and Ivan Boesky? Play any golf with der fueher George W Bush in those elite Houston country clubs lately? How about those retired loggers from Pacific Lumber who had their pensions raided by Maxxam after the PL corporate takeover in the mid eighties? Bet they're too old and broken to say anything bad about you now, eh Mr. Hurwitz?
We will NOT forget what your corporate greed has done to the community and ecosystem of Humboldt county, Mr. Hurwitz, we hold you and your corporation Maxxam accountable for ecological devastation and loss of jobs in Humboldt and surrounds..
For Aradia, Gypsy and all other innocent lives lost in the Maxxam raid on Humboldt's forests..
WE WILL NOT FORGET!!
WE WILL NOT GIVE UP, NO MATTER WHERE WE ARE!!
LOVE FOR EVERYONE IN FOREST DEFENSE!!
luna moth
from indybay archives;
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/09/1696724_comment.php
On Sat Sept 25th, the longest continuously occupied treesit in Humboldt County in one of the most beloved trees, Aradia, was raided by climbers from the Pacific Lumber Company. Three treesitters were extracted from the top of the tree and then Aradia was felled.
Aradia was first climbed by forest defenders 6 years ago and was lived in sporadically at first but had been consistently occupied by dedicated forest defenders for the past 3 years in order to physically prevent the tree from being cut and to draw public attention to Pacific Lumber’s unsustainable logging practices. Forest defenders have been asking Pacific Lumber to follow the four points of sustainable forestry: no clearcutting, no cutting old growth, no cutting on steep slopes, and no use of herbicides. Hundreds of people have climbed into Aradia’s branches over the years and experienced life in the canopy of an oldgrowth redwood tree. Hundreds more have hiked the 1.5 mile steep skid trail up Gypsy Mountain to the base of Aradia bringing food and water to the treesitters. Throughout the years Aradia had become somewhat of a legend with numerous songs and poems written in her honor.
Pacific Lumber Climbers had ascended Aradia on two previous occasions and removed platforms and supplies but had been unable to remove any treesitters. On Sept 25th there were 3 forest defenders at the very top of the tree when Climber Eric Schatz and three of his employees ascended Aradia. Witnesses on the ground heard shouts of pain from the treesitters as they were being restrained. One of the treesitters shouted out that he was being suspended upside down as he was lowered. Pacific Lumber hired climbers have a history of removing people from trees in an extremely dangerous life-threatening manner.
Two hours before sunset all 3 treesitters had been removed and the loggers began to cut the tree. The enormous girth of Aradia took the loggers 45 min to cut all the way through before she fell with an earthshaking boom that could be heard and felt throughout the valley.
In the aftermath the common sentiment amongst forest defenders was disbelief. “I thought this was one tree that we would actually save” was a much-repeated phrase. Pacific Lumber/Maxxam and CEO Charles Hurwitz himself had been approached many times with offers to buy Aradia. Propositions had been made to incorporate Aradia and Gypsy Mountain into the neighboring Grizzly Creek State Park and to make Aradia a living memorial to the forest defender David “Gypsy” Chain who was killed on the mountain Sept 17th 1998 by a logger falling a tree on top of him. Maxxam staunchly refused all offers and negotiations, determined to make a profit off of a living legend.
In order to reach the treesit Pacific Lumber employees had to bypass a 12ft deep hole dug in the logging road with a 10ft long tunnel at the bottom of it extending under the road. The tunnel was occupied by 5 forest defenders in hopes that loggers would be turned away by the possibility that the tunnel could collapse if heavy machinery was driven over it. Instead of dealing with the tunnel dwellers the loggers chose to bulldoze an alternate route along an old overgrown skid trail bypassing the hole in the road. This same logging road has been blockaded multiple times with slash piles, pods, concrete lockdown devices in the road, and human chains of forest defenders locked to each other. The amount of effort that has gone into protecting this mountain over the past 7 years is incalculable.
Still left standing on the mountain are the grove of trees that surrounded Aradia, some of which were a part of the treesit village, Manna, Lichen, Huckleberry, and Aloha.
We Save Trees
http://www.wesavetrees.org
EPIC
http://www.wildcalifornia.org/
NCEF!
http://www.northcoastearthfirst.org/
http://www.treesfoundation.org/html/affiliates_specific_12.html
Cascadia Rising!
http://www.cascadiarising.org/topic/ncef/
(notice we're all on the same page, ha ha ha!)
All the extra profits from these old growth trees means more junk bonds to buy and sell, eh Mr. Hurwitz? BTW Mr. Hurwitz, how's your former business partners from the Savings and Loan scandal days Micheal Milkin and Ivan Boesky? Play any golf with der fueher George W Bush in those elite Houston country clubs lately? How about those retired loggers from Pacific Lumber who had their pensions raided by Maxxam after the PL corporate takeover in the mid eighties? Bet they're too old and broken to say anything bad about you now, eh Mr. Hurwitz?
We will NOT forget what your corporate greed has done to the community and ecosystem of Humboldt county, Mr. Hurwitz, we hold you and your corporation Maxxam accountable for ecological devastation and loss of jobs in Humboldt and surrounds..
For Aradia, Gypsy and all other innocent lives lost in the Maxxam raid on Humboldt's forests..
WE WILL NOT FORGET!!
WE WILL NOT GIVE UP, NO MATTER WHERE WE ARE!!
LOVE FOR EVERYONE IN FOREST DEFENSE!!
luna moth
from indybay archives;
http://www.indybay.org/news/2004/09/1696724_comment.php
On Sat Sept 25th, the longest continuously occupied treesit in Humboldt County in one of the most beloved trees, Aradia, was raided by climbers from the Pacific Lumber Company. Three treesitters were extracted from the top of the tree and then Aradia was felled.
Aradia was first climbed by forest defenders 6 years ago and was lived in sporadically at first but had been consistently occupied by dedicated forest defenders for the past 3 years in order to physically prevent the tree from being cut and to draw public attention to Pacific Lumber’s unsustainable logging practices. Forest defenders have been asking Pacific Lumber to follow the four points of sustainable forestry: no clearcutting, no cutting old growth, no cutting on steep slopes, and no use of herbicides. Hundreds of people have climbed into Aradia’s branches over the years and experienced life in the canopy of an oldgrowth redwood tree. Hundreds more have hiked the 1.5 mile steep skid trail up Gypsy Mountain to the base of Aradia bringing food and water to the treesitters. Throughout the years Aradia had become somewhat of a legend with numerous songs and poems written in her honor.
Pacific Lumber Climbers had ascended Aradia on two previous occasions and removed platforms and supplies but had been unable to remove any treesitters. On Sept 25th there were 3 forest defenders at the very top of the tree when Climber Eric Schatz and three of his employees ascended Aradia. Witnesses on the ground heard shouts of pain from the treesitters as they were being restrained. One of the treesitters shouted out that he was being suspended upside down as he was lowered. Pacific Lumber hired climbers have a history of removing people from trees in an extremely dangerous life-threatening manner.
Two hours before sunset all 3 treesitters had been removed and the loggers began to cut the tree. The enormous girth of Aradia took the loggers 45 min to cut all the way through before she fell with an earthshaking boom that could be heard and felt throughout the valley.
In the aftermath the common sentiment amongst forest defenders was disbelief. “I thought this was one tree that we would actually save” was a much-repeated phrase. Pacific Lumber/Maxxam and CEO Charles Hurwitz himself had been approached many times with offers to buy Aradia. Propositions had been made to incorporate Aradia and Gypsy Mountain into the neighboring Grizzly Creek State Park and to make Aradia a living memorial to the forest defender David “Gypsy” Chain who was killed on the mountain Sept 17th 1998 by a logger falling a tree on top of him. Maxxam staunchly refused all offers and negotiations, determined to make a profit off of a living legend.
In order to reach the treesit Pacific Lumber employees had to bypass a 12ft deep hole dug in the logging road with a 10ft long tunnel at the bottom of it extending under the road. The tunnel was occupied by 5 forest defenders in hopes that loggers would be turned away by the possibility that the tunnel could collapse if heavy machinery was driven over it. Instead of dealing with the tunnel dwellers the loggers chose to bulldoze an alternate route along an old overgrown skid trail bypassing the hole in the road. This same logging road has been blockaded multiple times with slash piles, pods, concrete lockdown devices in the road, and human chains of forest defenders locked to each other. The amount of effort that has gone into protecting this mountain over the past 7 years is incalculable.
Still left standing on the mountain are the grove of trees that surrounded Aradia, some of which were a part of the treesit village, Manna, Lichen, Huckleberry, and Aloha.
We Save Trees
http://www.wesavetrees.org
EPIC
http://www.wildcalifornia.org/
NCEF!
http://www.northcoastearthfirst.org/
http://www.treesfoundation.org/html/affiliates_specific_12.html
Cascadia Rising!
http://www.cascadiarising.org/topic/ncef/
(notice we're all on the same page, ha ha ha!)
The Humboldt Watershed Council conists of one individual who masquerades as a coalition, but nowhere in their writings can be found a list of council members. The self-appointed "President" of this alleged "council" does all of his bidding from a post office box in Eureka. This ersatz "council" has no website, (too cheap?) and instead posts his press releases for free on sites like this one. He lives in Arcata with his wife, and appears to be without a visable means of support. All that can be said, aside from the "council," the "President" is head of a neighborhood group that has been trying to collect funds to buy a hunk of timber land. Perhaps they wil log from it at some future point. Who knows?
Overly obsessed with knowing what elected officials earn, he files grievances with the State if everything isn't totally out in the open.
It seems only fair that the "President" of this highly litigous "council" open his own personal finances up for all to see.
Overly obsessed with knowing what elected officials earn, he files grievances with the State if everything isn't totally out in the open.
It seems only fair that the "President" of this highly litigous "council" open his own personal finances up for all to see.
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