HIDDEN VALLEY LAKE >> A scientific consultant company hired by Wild Diamond Vineyards — which plans to open an 80 acres Hidden Valley Lake vineyard with wine-related buildings — recently accused the those who prepared the project’s drafted environmental impacted report (DEIR) of taking credit for its work and improperly representing the completion of the survey.
The company, Northwest Biosurvey, claims that SHN Consulting Engineers & Geologists, Inc. failed to include its full biological study on potentially impacted plant species in the report while simultaneously presenting the study’s data and produced graphics without any attribution.
“We’ve never had this done before,” Northwest Biosurvey Principal Biologist Steve Zalusky said.
But that isn’t the company’s biggest concern. According to Zalusky, SHN omitted the fact that the survey did not analyze potentially impacted late-blooming plants due to the short, five-month timeframe to publish the DEIR. If those plants exist, the report is required by state law to include how those are affected, he said.
“We made it clear in our work that it is incomplete,” he added. “I have no idea whether or not there are rare species on the property.”
Tina Wallis, the attorney representing Wild Diamond Vineyards, said her client disagrees with these claims. Particularly, she noted that Zalusky and his company were acknowledged in the 308-page document and its associated appendices, labeled C-2.
An analysis by the Record-Bee showed that Northwest Biosurvey and Zalusky were mentioned in both — the latter credited as a subconsultant in the DEIR — but were only mentioned once. The former appeared in a sentence in the appendix, saying the firm conducted a field investigation with SHN.
“This is a private contractual dispute or disagreement and we are working with Mr. Zalusky to resolve any potential issues,” Wallis said.
However, Zalusky said he hasn’t heard any response to his allegations, which he initially made at the county Planning Commission’s previous meeting. In fact, he claimed to have “terminated the working relationship with SHN.”
As for the alleged incomplete report, Wallis replied that she and her client are happy to address the issue if the Planning Commission has questions about it during its hearing at its regular meeting today.
County planning staff member Peggy Barthel did not know how this would affect the project’s DEIR moving forward.
“We wont do anything until we know what the situation is,” she said.
The hearing is scheduled for 9 a.m. at the Lake County Courthouse. Zalusky plans to attend, but only to provide input on the biological aspects if requested.
He wanted to assure the public that he and his company remain objective and aren’t against the project.
“If the decision makers thought the science was biased, it’s basically garbage,” he said.
