Page 276 | Bohemian | Sonoma & Napa Counties

Mark West Quarry Faces Hefty Fine for Polluting Salmon Habitat

Will Carruthers

Dec 8, 2021

Mark West Quarry Faces Hefty Fine for Polluting Salmon Habitat

A Sonoma County mining company faces a $4.5 million fine for allegedly allowing over 10 million gallons of tainted water to flow into a creek, damaging the habitat of endangered salmon.

In a September press release, the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board announced that, at a Dec. 2 meeting, the agency’s board would consider approving a $4.5 million fine against the BoDean Company, Inc. for numerous alleged violations of the Clean Water Act at the company’s Mark West Quarry several years ago. The North Coast water board is one of nine similar boards around the state charged with enforcing a variety of environmental laws.

Water Board staff first identified the problem in December 2018, when they noticed “sediment-laden stormwater” in Porter Creek downstream from the 120-acre quarry, which is used for hard-rock mining and materials processing. Over the next five months, Water Board officials visited the quarry 15 times total, documenting numerous similar incidents. All told, Water Board prosecutors estimate that 10.5 million gallons of tainted water flowed from the mountainside quarry into Porter Creek, which feeds into the Russian River.

Water Board photographs show that the investigators repeatedly discovered cloudy waters, known as “turbid” in Water Board lingo, emanating from the BoDean quarry. The creek serves as habitat for endangered California steelhead trout and Coho salmon, and the sediments flowing from the quarry could put those creatures at risk.

“Abnormally high levels of sediment in surface waters can smother aquatic animals and habitats; alter or obstruct flows, resulting in flooding; and reduce water clarity, which makes it difficult for organisms to breathe, find food and refuge, and reproduce,” the Water Board’s September press release states.

**Photo by Josh Luders/North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board**

In September, Water Board staff planned to send the $4.5 million fine for a vote at a Dec. 2 board meeting. However, in an interview, Claudia E. Villacorta, the assistant executive officer of the regional Water Board, said that BoDean has since agreed to enter negotiations with water officials.

Villacorta says that during the negotiation process, BoDean will have a chance to present evidence that may reduce the amount of the fine, as well as negotiate a payment plan. The company may also propose completing what is known as a “supplemental environmental project.” In that case, the company would partner with a nonprofit or government agency to build a project to environmentally benefit the watershed instead of paying a fine.

The Water Board expects to release an announcement about the results of the negotiations within the next month or two, according to Villacorta.

In addition to paying the fine, BoDean is expected to bring the quarry into compliance with Water Board regulations moving forward. According to the Water Board, the millions of gallons of runoff would have been avoidable if BoDean had followed the requirements of their permit. Instead, the Water Board says that the company did not comply with the permit’s requirements, resulting in the excessive runoff and, in turn, the hefty fine.

“Had the quarry operator complied with the storm water permit, impacts to water quality could have been avoided. The proposed fine reflects the extent of those impacts and the operator’s failure to implement minimum practices established in the permit,” Villacorta said in the Water Board’s September statement.

**Photo by Paul Nelson/North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board**

Dean Soiland, an owner of BoDean Co., and Sean Hungerford, an attorney representing the company, did not respond to requests for comment. However, at an August Water Board meeting, Hungerford said that BoDean is working on the problem.

At the same meeting, two Water Board members expressed frustration about the BoDean company’s track record at the quarry.

“I think you would do your client a great service to remind them of the seriousness of the vote that we just took … there’s a history of notice of violations, there’s a history of being slow to react. This board does not take [it] lightly if its authority is ignored, and our track record shows that, so this is kind of the last straw, and we hope that your client takes this action seriously and does the right thing for his sake and for the sake of the public,” Board Chair Gregory Giusti told Hungerford.

“I do just want to assure this board that my client does take this matter seriously and has already set several wheels in motion to make sure that we don’t have a meeting like this again,” Hungerford responded. “I think by this time next year everyone involved will have a different sense about the site and where we stand with respect to compliance.”

The $4.5 million fine under consideration by the Water Board is larger than most, but not the largest. Last December, the regional board approved a $6.4 million fine against Sonoma Luxury Resort LLC, a company constructing the ritzy Montage Healdsburg hotel, for allegedly failing to prevent 9.4 million gallons of sediment-laden water from flowing into creeks, which feed into the Russian River.

Water board inspectors visited the Mark West Quarry on Oct. 25, just after a major rainstorm drenched the North Bay. According to a report from the visit, BoDean has made infrastructure improvements to the quarry but will remain on a watch list until runoff from the facility tests clean in four consecutive major storms.

Will Carruthers is a news reporter for the Pacific Sun and North Bay Bohemian. Email tips to wc*********@*****ys.com. Follow him on Twitter at @Carruthers_W.

Letters to the Editor—Right to Life, Freedom to Vote

Letters to the Editor

Jane Vick

Dec 8, 2021

Freedom to Vote

Other than for my post-high school education, I have been a resident of Marin County since 1962. Politicians are currently trying to modify voting maps for advantages in elections; this is gerrymandering and SHOULD NOT BE LEGAL, as it alters the outcome of the elections, thereby preventing the voice of our people from being heard and, consequently, damaging some of the most important aspects of our democracy!

We need federal reforms to ensure fair maps throughout our country! The Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act will end partisan gerrymandering and ensure that voting maps are more fair, transparent and nonpartisan!

Senators Feinstein and Padilla are good people who are trying to do the right things for our country and our people. They need to deliver the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act to ensure more fair, transparent and nonpartisan maps!!

James Barkovich

Marin County

Right to Life

I am angry at the so-called “Right to Life” movement. It’s time for a major reality check for those claiming to be fighting for the rights of the unborn.

Every day 10,000 children worldwide die horribly painful deaths from starvation. And with each passing day our planet approaches the point where the massive starvation of children will become epidemic because of global warming and the resulting breakdown of the world’s agriculture. In addition, the continuing spread of nuclear weapons and deadly tensions among the world’s major superpowers threaten all the children on this Earth—born, unborn and ever to be born.

It’s time for the “Right to Life” movement to return to the real world from their “holier-than-thou” conservative Christian idealism. Who truly cares for the unborn people of the world?

Rama Kumar

Fairfax

Culture Crush—Christmas Classics at the Raven, Corte Madera Library Celebration, and More

Culture

Charlie Swanson

Dec 8, 2021

Culture Crush—Christmas Classics at the Raven, Corte Madera Library Celebration, and More

Online

Landmark Library

The Corte Madera Library celebrates 50 years at its location on Meadowsweet Drive, and the beloved book lender marks the occasion with an online presentation from local luminary Jana Haehl. A resident of the town since 1963, Haehl was elected to the Town Council three times and served two terms as mayor of Corte Madera. She is also the co-founder of the Corte Madera Community Foundation, and past president of the Marin Conservation League and other groups. Haehl gives a talk on the library’s past and present activities on Thursday, Dec. 9, at 6:30pm. Free. marinlibrary.org.

Healdsburg

Double the Joy

Not satisfied with producing one holiday show, the Raven Performing Arts Theater presents two Christmastime classics on stage. First, five actors will portray over 40 roles in the live-radio play of It’s a Wonderful Life, adapting the classic movie into a new experience featuring live sound effects, and even a few catchy commercial jingles, opening Thursday, Dec. 9. Additionally, the theater presents the funny family show, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, opening Friday, Dec. 10. The shows run on alternating dates through Dec. 19 at Raven Performing Arts Theater, 115 North St., Healdsburg. Times vary. $10–$25. raventheater.org.

Ross

Gift of Dickens

Marin Art & Garden’s holiday schedule of community gatherings continues this weekend with a special, staged reading of the Charles Dickens’ classic story, A Christmas Story, presented in cooperation with long-running theater company Ross Valley Players. Directed by Billie Cox, the production boasts a cast drawn from actors from the spectrum of Marin theaters, including Ross Valley Players, Marin Theater Company, College of Marin Drama and others. A Christmas Carol is presented outdoors on Saturday, Dec. 11, at Marin Art & Garden Center’s redwood amphitheater, 30 Sir Francis Drake Blvd., Ross. 11am and 2pm. $5–$10. Maringarden.org.

Santa Rosa

Show of Support

In Sonoma County, the Stop All Government Evictions (SAGE) campaign is urging the Board of Supervisors to pass a moratorium on Permit Sonoma evictions of low-income renters, including renters living in trailers, yurts, tents or tiny homes. Seventy-year-old musician Copperwoman Saso is one of those renters, and her tiny home—with its composting toilet—was red-tagged by Permit Sonoma in August. Now facing thousands of dollars in fines, Saso performs a benefit concert with Andy and Bob Culbertson to support SAGE and ease her own burden on Sunday, Dec. 12, at Arlene Francis Center, 99 6th St., Santa Rosa. 1pm. Sonomaindependent.org.

—Charlie Swanson

Have a Ball—Emerald Cup Returns with New Party

Charlie Swanson

Dec 8, 2021

Have a Ball—Emerald Cup Returns with New Party

Like other gatherings in the North Bay and beyond, the Emerald Cup cannabis competition and festival was forced to be socially isolated in 2020 due to the pandemic.

It’s not something the close-knit community wanted to do, but the event stayed alive online.

“The contest, which is the main feature of the Cup, still went forward well,” Emerald Cup-founder Tim Blake says. “We had over 600 entries, we did a [digital] awards ceremony. We snuck by without too much damage.”

Now, the Emerald Cup returns to live events with the upcoming two-day Harvest Ball on Dec. 11–12 at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds in Santa Rosa.

While the Emerald Cup’s awards show is moving to Los Angeles, the organization retains its North Bay roots at the Harvest Ball, celebrating cannabis with an eclectic lineup of live music, informational sessions and a marketplace featuring several small farms. Covid-related protocols, such as requiring proof of vaccination or negative test results, will be in place for the event.

“It’s still challenging with Covid, but our audience is ready to get together and gather after two years of being apart,” Blake says.

The Harvest Ball’s live-music lineup will get the crowds moving, with headliners like electronic outfit Big Wild and reggae-rock artist Trevor Hall, and a range of performers like New Orleans legends Dumpstahphunk, folk siblings Shook Twins and San Francisco soul-rock band Monophonics.

The lineup also features legendary rapper Kurupt and friends, including members of Wu-Tang Clan, on Saturday; and Oakland rapper and hyphy pioneer Keak da Sneak on Sunday.

“I’m more excited about the music than ever,” Blake says. “I’ve always wanted to be a cutting-edge event for music.”

In addition to the two-day concert, the Harvest Ball offers several in-depth discussions on the hottest topics in cannabis today, including sessions covering new developments in psychedelics, regenerative farming, genetics, and a conversation on cannabis and sexual healing.

“We always bring in the leading people to talk, and we’re doing that again,” Blake says. “We’ve got a well-rounded bunch of speakers and panels coming in.”

One of the biggest topics this year in cannabis is small farming, and the Harvest Ball will address that topic not only in a session about securing the future for small farms, but by creating a space for small farmers at the event’s massive marketplace. Through a raffle lottery system, the event gave 27 randomly drawn small farmers booths space at the marketplace for free.

“Frankly, the small farmers have had the toughest year of their lives; we’re looking at over half of them not making it,” Blake says. “It’s been a challenging moment for them.”

Compassionate care is another topic on the rise, and the Harvest Ball is donating one dollar from each ticket to the Sweetleaf Collective’s charity program, which helps get free medical cannabis to low-income patients, veterans and seniors.

Finally, as with previous installments of the Emerald Cup, Blake wants this upcoming Harvest Ball to be a place for “the tribe” to come together.

“Overall, it’s a wonderful moment for everybody to connect and have a great party,” Blake says. “We’re honored to come back to Sonoma County and all stand together for the weekend.”

The Emerald Cup Harvest Ball happens Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 11–12, at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, 1350 Bennett Valley Rd., Santa Rosa. Tickets are available at theemeraldcup.com.

Pure Action—Break the worry routine

Christian M. Chensvold

Dec 1, 2021

When we’re in crisis, lost in the forest, deep in our own personal hell, it seems impossible to get out.

Our nights are spent in sleeplessness and catastrophizing worry, our days in despondency. We know what we could be doing, what we ought to be doing, but we cannot summon an ounce of will to act. Nothing seems to matter, nothing will do any good, nothing will change things. And so we keep brooding, trapped in a negative feedback loop in which A gets us B, which gets us more A. And around and around we go.

To break the cycle and find our will to do things again, we need to shatter the illusion of what we think it means to will and to do. The beginning of this inner realization comes from an understanding of the difference between acting and reacting.

We are living through the end stages of a long cosmic cycle, the time when people are the farthest from metaphysical reality and the most deeply materialistic. They are plugged in electronically to devices that condition their consciousness, so that every day is a series of reactions to stimuli, information that is either true or not, and tasks that need to be done. Above that is the level of physical and emotional urges: feelings of fear and anger triggered by external events, hunger and lust, sudden hankerings to purchase an object that will bring a moment of happiness.

The ancients knew this mode of living, for it characterizes humanity at the lowest level, not the highest, as we like to think of ourselves in this technological age. Beyond mere living there is the concept of mehr als leben, or more than living, and one of the chief characteristics of the artists, adventurers and spiritual seekers who tap into this dimension of being is their ability not to merely re-act, but to experience pure action.

What is pure action? This is the action of the gods, in their serenity and wisdom. We’ve seen characters like this in some of the most famous movies, from Star Wars to Lord of the Rings. These enlightened people are able to act without desire and to act without concern about outcome. The first characteristic is what makes their actions pure, even in the realm of the most primal drive—that of sex.

The second characteristic can be illustrated by artistic creation. Worrying over whether our creation comes out “good” or not, or whether it is commercially successful, will never produce great art.

Great art is created through a deep process that works itself out as if dictated from above, unfolding without petty human worries over the result. The dramatization of Mozart dictating his “Requiem” from a sick bed in the film Amadeus is a fine example. Here is a master, albeit enfeebled, unencumbered by doubtful tinkerings that his composition isn’t coming out right, or that his patron won’t find it worthy of recompense.