Coming to a City near you

Folks..its here...Time to pay the piper. Long Beach is just now realizing it. Read more here at LBReport.com. When will your city realize it? This year? Next year? You voted for these idiots (or failed to vote them out) and once behind closed doors they start shelling out pensions, perks and pay raises. Are you going to let them get ways with it? Orange County is not. John Moorlach is leading the charge. Read more here. But in the Socialist Republic Nanny State that is LA county we have no leaders with the guts to stand up to public labor unions, especially After Arnie's little run in with them last year in the fake proposition failure.


Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

Perchlorate hearings delayed

Marchers Label Polluters ‘Public Enemy #1'
Thursday, 23 August 2007
RIALTO
http://www.blackvoicenews.com/content/view/41190/4/

By Chris Levister

Braving the scorching heat, dozens of angry residents and members of the Riverside-based Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice marched and rallied down Foothill Boulevard Tuesday demanding that polluters clean up water contamination.

Tuesday was supposed to be the first day of state hearings to determine if three companies should have to clean the chemical perchlorate from drinking water wells that serve thousands of Rialto and Colton residents. On Friday the group learned a Los Angeles judge issued a temporary stay to stop the hearings - thus postponing the proceedings - for the fifth time.

"We are shocked and alarmed that addressing this environmental disaster has been delayed through legal tactics by these polluters," said Jan Misquez, staff member of CCAEJ.

For nearly three years the group has been working to raise awareness on the issue of groundwater contamination by Goodrich, Black and Decker and PyroSpectacular.

The companies accused of the contamination all operated on the 160-acre industrial site used since World War II on the north end of the city.

"The state's inability to get these hearings off the starting block, leave us wondering who is protecting us? Who can we count on to protect our families?" said CCAEJ executive director Penny Newman.

Newman called the polluters "environmental terrorists" and called on Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to assemble a task force to order the companies to clean up the mess.

"Justice delayed is justice denied. What do we want - clean water now," protesters chanted in English and Spanish.

The show of blue and white placards demanding clean up was dotted with WANTED posters embossed with photographs of the heads of the three companies accused of being responsible for the pollution. The signs labeled them "Public Enemy #1."

Newman lamented that with each postponement the plume of chemicals flowing south toward Colton and west toward Fontana endangers thousands of families. She said Rialto residents have paid $10 million in perchlorate surcharges since 2004.

Perchlorate is used in the production of explosives, including rocket fuel and fireworks. The chemical affects the thyroid gland, which controls growth, development and metabolism.

Rialto estimates it will cost $300 million to clean up the pollution. Perchlorate was discovered in the city's water supply in 1997. Newman said the latest postponement of 62 days will cause the city to lose another 800 million gallons of fresh drinking water.

"If necessary we will take this protest to Sacramento and beyond. We've got an environmental disaster on our hands. You can expect to see more pressure on elected officials."

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

laser show will replace the fireworks show due to perchlorate risks

People are starting to see the connection. When will congress which has two Perchlorate bills pending, both sponsored by Calif Senators Feinstein and Boxer, see the connection?

Novato drops Labor Day fireworks after concerns over water contamination

Joe Wolfcale
Marin Independent Journal
Article Launched:08/22/2007 06:03:19 PM PDT
http://www.marinij.com/marin/ci_6691972

Novato officials have canceled the fireworks display at the annual Labor Day at the Lake celebration because a chemical that contaminates drinking water was found in lake water after last year's event.

Water samples from Stafford Lake taken after last year's pyrotechnics showed a trace amount of perchlorate, a chemical dangerous for human consumption.

Water district officials believe the source of the perchlorate was an unexploded shell or shell casing that contaminated water in one area of the lake. City officials said, however, the contaminant level was so small it did not pose a danger to humans or require official notification to state agencies that monitor water systems.

A three-dimensional laser show will replace the fireworks show.

"We can't have that in our water supply, so it's a big concern for the water district," Novato City Manager Dan Keen said. "We had discussions right after the event last year and we just didn't have the comfort level we all wanted to have to proceed. I've seen a preview of the laser show, so it should be pretty interesting.

"We'll still have plenty of kid-friendly stuff."

Nearly 5,000 people attended last year's celebration. To date, the event has raised $180,000, with the proceeds benefiting the Novato Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department scholarship fund, Division Manager Katy Graves said.

"The fireworks was such a big draw for the event, we didn't want to lose it," Graves said. "We're really looking forward to the laser show and think it will be one of the first and biggest in the county."

Subsequent samples of Stafford Lake water showed no trace of the chemical. Water officials tested Stafford Lake after each fireworks show but found a high level of perchlorate only after last year's event, according to a Jan. 12 memorandum from Pablo Ramudo, water quality supervisor for the North Marin Water District.

Perchlorate breaks down slowly in the environment and is used primarily as a component of solid propellant rockets, missiles and fireworks. About 20 percent of Novato's drinking water comes from Stafford Lake; the rest comes from the Russian River.

"Our mission is to provide good quality water and we can't let entertainment get in the way of that," said David Bentley, acting general manager for the North Marin Water District.

"There are perchlorate-free fireworks made, but this is such an important matter, we didn't want to take any chances," Keen said.

Read more Novato stories at the IJ's Novato page.

Contact Joe Wolfcale via e-mail at jwolfcale@marinij.com

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™

Fireworks and air pollution

Wildfires causing Valley air pollution
Regulators alert citizens with respiratory problems
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Article Last Updated: 08/16/2007 02:36:07 AM PDT
http://www.insidebayarea.com/trivalleyherald/localnews/ci_6637383

The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District has issued a cautionary warning for much of the San Joaquin Valley due to two fires in southern California.

The fires — the Zaca fire in Santa Barbara County and the Tar Canyon fire in Fresno County — have spiked particulate levels to 55 micrograms per cubic meter in Bakersfield, or 20 micrograms above the federally accepted level, said Brenda Turner, a spokeswoman with the air district.

Though those closer to the fires have more to be worried about, residents in San Joaquin and Stanislaus counties with respiratory problems, such as lung disease or asthma, or heart disease may want to stay indoors if they smell smoke, Turner said.

The immediate threat is small, but heavy winds could send smoke farther north.

To put particulate levels in perspective, fires in a fireplace also elevate the air to about 55 micrograms per cubic meter, Turner said. Fireworks raise the air to extremely high particulate levels. Modesto's fireworks boosted levels to 302 micrograms per cubic meter in July 2006.

However, particulate readings are averaged over a 24-hour period, and levels hit the 55 mark only once Wednesday.

Lakewood Accountability Action Group™ LAAG | www.LAAG.us | Lakewood, CA
A California Non Profit Association | Demanding action and accountability from local government™