LAKEPORT — The Lake County Board of Supervisors (BOS), sitting as the board of directors for the Lake County Air Quality Management District (LCAQMD), approved the purchase of a new air monitoring trailer to monitor emissions from the Geysers facilities.
Doug Gearhart, air pollution control officer, said the department had been borrowing equipment belonging to the California Air Resources Board (ARB) to monitor emissions in certain areas of Cobb and officials were asking when the equipment would be returned.
Gearhart said the environmental impact report (EIR) for Bottle Rock Power has a stipulation that requires the company to assist with the funding of a portable air monitoring station, which is operated by the LCAQMD. Some residents near the site have made the board aware of their emissions concerns, he said.
Complete funding for the station is not yet available and won”t be until spring or summer because of delays in the development project process, Gearhart said. Because of these factors, Gearhart asked the board to authorize a partial cancelation of the LCAQMD air monitoring equipment/station reserve in the amount of $30,500 and appropriate the funds for the purchase of an air monitoring trailer.
Bottle Rock Power would reimburse the LCAQMD prior to the start of construction on the expansion area, he said.
Lakeport Trailer has been working with staff to design an air monitoring trailer that meets the needs of the district, Gearhart said. He asked the board to waive the competitive bidding process because other vendors that are available are located out of state and had estimates that were $10,000 to $40,000 higher than the quote from Lakeport Trailer.
He said this was because the other vendors manufactured special trailers for monitoring while Lakeport Trailer customized a Wells Cargo trailer with the LCAQMD into a suitable monitoring trailer.
Board members said they were pleased with the proposal. Denise Rushing said it was straight forward and Jim Comstock said he was pleased the district stayed local.
The board unanimously approved three items: waiving the competitive bidding process on the grounds it would produce no economic benefit to the county; the resolution that would cancel a portion of the air monitoring equipment reserve in the amount of $30,500 and appropriated the funds to purchase the trailer; and the purchase order for the trailer.
Kevin N. Hume can be reached at kevin.n.hume@gmail.com or call directly 263-5636 ext. 14.
