LAKEPORT >> Lake County Planning Commission after several public hearings, some at municipal advisory council town hall meetings, unanimously approved (4 to 0, Christina Price absent) a permit for converting forest woodchip remains into a compound to fuel electric generators, at the BOS Chambers, December 12.
Planning Commissioner Barry (Batsulwin) Brown brought the item to the floor for a vote. “I move based on an initial study, 23-10, for a, UP23-05 as applied by Valley Band of Habematolel Pomo Tribal Nation, for a property located at 755 East State Highway 20, Upper Lake, for APN004-001-04, does meet the requirements of Lake County municipal zoning ordinance,” he said. “And so, grant a Major Use Permit subject to conditions, and with findings listed of the staff report.”
However, the motion also provides for a seven-day appeal period, if disagreement with the Planning Commission decision can be filed with applicable forms and fees, on or before of the seventh day following passage. Doug Gearhart, Lake County Air pollution control officer, noted his is a commenting agency for CEQA. “We look at every emission source, every process from trucks to generators,” he said. At a point in the near future there will be another round of public comment available to dig into air quality impacts. “There will be another notification once we have all that detail, review it and have a draft assessment for the applicant at a point in the future,” he added.
Commissioner Brown explained that in Tribal culture, they have used biochar for thousands of years, and that he did not see a risk of toxins. He went on, he had taken into consideration all public comment made. “Yea, there’s a risk in everything it’s (biochar) associated with,” he confided. “The application has demonstrated, all these concerns are going to be mitigated.
Laura Hall, Lake County senior planner noted the property for the plant is to be leased to the Scots Valley Energy Corporation for 15 years by the county through the Department of Water Resources Flood District. She added that once the lease expires the county aims to return the property to its original, natural watershed status. Brown also interjected that Tribal Communities have used prescribed burns to maintain the land before the first immigrants showed up in California and that should be acknowledged. “So, the contribution of this landscape was something that was done prior to traditional farming,” he said. “Agricultural land was something done before (the European arrival) and I note that because it always seems that it is left out of our history, and we need to acknowledge the contributions from the original people that lived here.”
However, a number of residents spoke out against the proposal. Lori Larson is a neighbor of the proposed plant. She explained after Googling biomass, i showed it can be prone to self-heating spontaneously, which would make it difficult to detect and fight fires early. “Now they speak of different materials, but my understanding it’s only wood material so, what do we have for spark detectors, explosion prevention and protection systems?” She went on, “I’ve thought a lot about this since the last meeting. What would you feel if this was coming to your neighborhood? I didn’t move up here to live next door to this, and I cannot move, so please consider that.”
Barbara Morris lives across the highway from the project. She explained it has been confusing as to what the facts are. “The information is changing all the time,” she said. “We’ve asked how many trucks would be going in and out,” she said. It started out in June at two to five. Then in August, with Steve (Brumbaugh) the engineer, it was 10 diesel trucks going in and out up Middle Creek Road up n Elk Mountain every day, then it went down to two trucks. Why take prime ag land, just because you’re getting it for $100 a year, doesn’t make it right to go develop it in another direction.”
Julia Carrera is empathic to the tribal community cultivating an entrepreneurial opportunity. She supports the Scotts Valley Tribe trying to create revenues for itself, but it is an inappropriate site, she noted. “This is the wrong location, prime ag land for an industrial project. More research needs to be done. Do not allow this industrial project, adjacent to a pre-school, wildlife corridors and a flood drainage system that will be clogged (biomass residue), it won’t work.”
Tom Jordan, who represents Scotts Vally Energy Corporation, maintains the gasification process to convert biochar into syn gas to power linear generators, yields no emissions and will have no environmental impact. He furthermore noted Alliance Technical Group, which provides innovative and technology-driven solutions for environmental compliance and testing across various markets and industries, has corroborated his assertions.
Commissioner Brown maintained the environment is always a concern for himself. “For those who don’t know, I live adjacent to the Sulphur Bank Mercury Mine,” he said. “I don’t feel it’s a major threat to derailing this project. I have listened carefully, and it doesn’t seem those issues are going to occur.”
