By Chris Finnie
With devastating fires raging from Alaska to the Amazon, it seemed like a good time to take a look at what’s going on in our local environment.
River & Road Cleanup
Nancy Macy talked to the Bulletin about the Valley Women’s Club 33rd annual River & Road Cleanup. She says she’s amazed it’s been going on so long and shared some of the history of the event. “Al Haynes from SLVWD got a grant for river cleanup and reached out to the VWC. The grant funded it for the first year. Al worked on it for 10-15 years after that. The county provided a driver and dump truck for Felton and SLVWD sent one for Ben Lomond and Boulder Creek. The county provides free dumping and provides vouchers for private trucks. GreenWaste is going to provide recycling dumpsters this year.”
Over the years, Nancy has worked to involve even more organizations and calls it “a great community effort.” She says that, this year, Save our Shores is also helping with publicity and sending up volunteers. Volunteers can sign up on their website. Just go to coastal cleanup and look for the river. Volunteers who sign up online and bring the liability waiver don’t have to sign up at the event sites.
Volunteers can also just come any time from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm on Saturday September 21, rain or shine.
Nancy recommends sturdy shoes and long pants. Volunteers 12 or under must be accompanied by an adult. She points out that the Club provides community-service credits for students who need or want them. And that these credits look great on job or college applications.
As usual, the VWC will have tables at Covered Bridge Park, on highway 9 near Filmore in Ben Lomond, and behind the Village Wash & Dry laundromat in Boulder Creek (just follow the signs). You can get supplies like drinks, snacks, garbage bags, and hi-vis vests; and directions to cleanup sites. You can also name your own cleanup spot. You can either walk or go by car.
Lompico has also been doing their own cleanup for 34 years, and has now moved their event to the same date.
If you want to suggest a site where there is debris near a creek or river— even a seasonal creek—that could end up in the waterways, call Nancy at 831-338-6578. She needs very specific directions like a road name with a mile marker. You can also call her if you have a truck and can go around to collect things.
Ben Lomond Transfer Station Recycling
Tim Goncharoff, Zero Waste Programs Manager with Santa Cruz County reports that Grey Bears has now taken over the recycling center at the Ben Lomond Transfer Station. They also run the recycling at the Buena Vista Landfill. GreenWaste also offers curbside recycling everywhere in the County. I was actually pretty impressed with the range of things they’ll take. You can see for yourself at https://www. greenwaste.com/sites/default/ files/0SC_SFD-english-bleed-ALL. pdf The news isn’t as good for CRV redemptions. Tim says, “The state is very aware of the closure of recycling centers and the lack of CRV redemption options in many areas. They have been actively reminding businesses that, unless there’s a recycling center nearby, the law requires them to redeem the containers themselves or pay a hefty opt-out fee of $100/ day. Recently, many local stores have agreed to start returning bottle and can deposits. The state keeps a database people can check at https:// www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/BevContainer/RecyclingCenters/ Since this is new, we’ve been encouraging people to call the store and make sure their program is up and running. Some may not be ready yet.” Honestly, it’s pretty sparse around here. My own check shows no more than a few stores in Scotts Valley as the closest places.
County Moves on Single-use Plastics
Jason Hoppin, Communications Manager for the County of Santa Cruz, sent us information on a recent resolution by the Board of Supervisors. To examine options for reducing litter and plastic pollution, they’ve directed Public Works to return before the end of October 2019 with proposed ordinances and include the following:
• Prohibit the sale of water in single-use plastic bottles of less than a gallon at county facilities • Address single-use disposable cups in the unincorporated area, and work with other jurisdictions to find a common charge countywide • Design a public-education campaign that includes the distribution of some [microfiber] filters, and propose an ordinance around microfiber pollution •Report on contact lens recycling • Present a plan for the installation of additional hydration stations in county facilities
County Denies Variance for PG&E Tree Cutting Supervisor Bruce McPherson told me at the National Night Out in Boulder Creek that Santa Cruz County has not granted PG&E the variance they applied for last year to do “enhanced vegetation management” (aka clearcutting) in county road easements. He added that he does not expect the county to grant that variance, though PG&E is still allowed to do their regular trimming. To summarize, PG&E needs permission from property owners to do anything beyond that regular trimming on private property. Also, if you see them doing more than that along a county roadway, stop them and report it to the county. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that PG&E has hired 40 different prime contractors from all over the country. A court-appointed monitor who has been evaluating PG&E’s safety practices found that crews were failing to track progress and train personnel. So it’s entirely possible that they’ve gotten conflicting instructions and don’t know the status of permits. For example, I gave permission to remove two trees last year. I got a door hanger this year proposing to trim a different tree in the same area. When the crew showed up, they said their orders were to trim the trees that were supposed to be removed. I showed them the door hanger, they showed me the order. I finally just let them get on with it. And that was a local firm that regularly cuts around here. You can imagine how bad communications with the out-of-state firms might be! PG&E did get a variance from Caltrans last year. Assuming that’s still in effect, they can cut on the sides of state highways.
Climate Week The Santa Cruz Climate Action Network is planning a week of events, beginning with a youth march after school on Friday, September 20, 2019 from 4:00 to 8:00 pm at the Louden Nelson Community Center on Center Street in Santa Cruz and on the Plaza in Watsonville. For more information, see their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/SantaCruzClimateActionNetwork
