LAKEPORT — An attorney representing Friends of Cobb Mountain recently filed a petition on behalf of the nonprofit group that asks the court to reverse decisions made by the Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS) approving the Bottle Rock Power, LLC (BRP) expansion project.
Friends of Cobb Mountain argues that county decisions, including use permit approval and certification of the environmental impact report (EIR) for the project, violated California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements, according to the petition filed by attorney Donald B. Mooney on May 11.
There is a mandatory settlement meeting scheduled for Wednesday afternoon at the Lake County Courthouse.
The petition lists the County of Lake and the BOS as respondents in the case. BRP is among three “real parties in interest.”
BRP”s expansion project proposes to construct two new geothermal well pads, drill up to 22 production and injection wells and add about 1.3 miles of new pipeline on roughly 470 acres of surface land the company currently leases on High Valley Road in Cobb.
BRP operates a power plant and three geothermal well pads on land adjacent to the expansion area.
The project ultimately received local government approval, but only after a lengthy public review process.
The Lake County Planning Commission held a daylong hearing on Dec. 22 attended by more than 30 local citizens. The commission intended to consider several issues that day but voted only to certify the final EIR.
The commission took up the remaining issues during a mid-January meeting, and after considering more than four hours of public input, voted unanimously to approve minor modifications to BRP”s original use permit, approve the new use permit for the project and recommend the project”s rezone proposal to the BOS.
Friends of Cobb Mountain opposed those decisions and filed an appeal to the BOS on Jan. 19, citing primarily EIR inadequacy.
The BOS considered the appeal during four regular meetings between late February and mid-April, making a final decision to deny the appeal by a 4-1 vote on April 12. District 3 Supervisor Denise Rushing dissented.
The denial allowed BRP to move forward with the project, and in the time since, the company has completed grading permit processes and some “preparatory work,” including earth moving and surveying, according to BRP general manager Brian Harms.
As for the legal action, Harms said, “it”s too early to make any comments.” BRP will participate in the settlement meeting but in the interim, “there”s nothing legally stopping us from proceeding with construction,” he said.
As part of the petition, Friends of Cobb Mountain asks the court to suspend approval of all construction contracts until a new EIR is completed.
The organization”s chair, Hamilton Hess, said the certified EIR did not properly address and mitigate the impacts of the project.
“The environmental effects, among others, include noise, heavy industrial traffic on narrow local roads, exposure of local residents and workers to the rotten eggs odor of hydrogen sulfide gas and the suspected health effects from this and other airborne substances emitted from the steam field and power plant,” Hess said.
The petition also argues that the county decisions violated its own zoning ordinance and state planning and zoning law.
County Counsel Anita Grant said she could not comment on case specifics.
Contact Jeremy Walsh at jwalsh@record-bee.com or call him at 263-5636, ext. 37.
