Sierra Club
Redwood Chapter Newsletter
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North Group Report Diane Beck | |
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Humboldt County D.A. Gallegos Faces Recall Pacific Lumber Company (PL) has essentially bankrolled the campaign to recall District Attorney Paul Gallegos, who took office in January 2003. PL is being sued by Gallegos, who alleges that the timber company lied to state and federal officials when negotiating the 1999 Headwaters Forest deal. Since October, financial disclosure records indicate that 93 percent of the money raised in the recall campaign, almost $70,000, was contributed by Maxxam-Pacific Lumber. A spokesman for the Friends of Paul Gallegos said, "This may be the first time in U.S. history that a defendant in a fraud case has tried to avoid a trial by financing a recall." Needless to say, the Friends of Paul Gallegos don't have quite such deep pockets. To donate money or time to Paul's campaign, go to votegallegos.org. The recall will be on the March 2, 2004, election ballot. Gallegos announced the suit in February 2003. The recall campaign got underway a month later. The recall has nothing to do with job performance and everything to do with a multinational corporation angling to circumvent a fraud suit. Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) for Humboldt Bay Update Calpine's proposal to import LNG in 1,000-foot supertankers and store it on Humboldt Bay before piping it 150 miles to Red Bluff has not had smooth sailing. After a largely negative response from city and county residents at its meeting in December, the Eureka City Council postponed a vote on a feasibility study for its property on the North Spit until January 20, 2004, then Calpine requested an additional delay. At a jam-packed Harbor District meeting in January, the Commissioners backed way down on their Resolution to "study" the siting of an |
LNG facility on Humboldt Bay. The Chamber of Commerce postponed a public meeting in early January. The Eureka City Council will take up the issue of a feasibility study on Tuesday, February 3, 6:30, City Hall. It would be an excellent idea to show up to express your concern. There will be time for comments if you wish, but please show up if you can. Two sites are being considered, one of which is around a mile to a mile and a half from Old Town Eureka and the County Courthouse, the other around two and a half miles from Old Town and about a half mile from the Bayshore Mall. LNG is a clean-burning energy source and LNG facilities have a decent safety record (outside of the 1944 Cleveland disaster in which 128 people lost their lives), but in the post-9/11 era such facilities and LNG-laden supertankers ought to be far from population centers, and certainly not near the 40,000 people who live within four miles of the proposed facility on Humboldt Bay. As a September 2003 Congressional Research Service Report for Congress states bluntly, "U.S. LNG facilities are high-profile terrorist targets" (p. 20). Also, "In the United States, federal warnings about Al Qaeda threats since September 11, 2001 have repeatedly mentioned energy infrastructure" (p. 11). The more postponements, the more time to educate city council members, county supervisors, and residents. We do not want a "feasibility" study. There are too many serious negatives, including further degradation of bay resources from additional dredging. Good sources of information may be accessed at www.LNGwatch.com, www.wildcalifornia.org and www.necandeconews.to. |