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2.& Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2011 Indian Valley Record
Study finds no negative effects from cloud seeding
BOARD OF
SUPERVISORS
[~OUNDUP
Dan McDonald
Staff Writer
dmcdonald@plumasnews.com
There's no evidence that
cloud seeding has negative
effects on the environment
or public health• But more
research should be done.
That's what an advisory
committee told the Plumas
County Board of Supervisors
at its meeting Tuesday, Dec.
20.
Almanor Basin Watershed
Advisory Committee Chair-
man Ryan Burnett said, "We
don't have any smoking gun
to suggest that they (PG&E)
should stop (cloud seeding)
right now.
"There's certainly poten-
tial benefits to cloud seeding.
And we found nothing in
our research that really
was compelling to say that
they should stop doing it,"
Burnett said, "But we have
some concerns."
The advisory committee,
which was formed by the
Board of Supervisors in 2005,
began studying cloud seeding
last spring in response to
public concerns•
The nine-member commit-
tee presented the supervisors
with a five-page report that
included recommendations
for the board•
Burnett said PG&E was "a
huge help" in the study,
which included talking to
some of the leading experts in
the field.
Many of the committee's
questions came directly from
the public.
The committee hosted a
community forum in the
Almanor Basin last spring
that attracted about 75 people,
according to Burnett. PG&E
representatives attended the
meeting, as did several scien-
tists who had studied cloud
seeding.
"After that meeting, there
were a number of unanswered
questions that the public had,
and that we had as a commit-
tee," Burnett said. "So we
formed a subcommittee,
specifically on cloud seeding.
"We worked for six months
and talked to some of the
leading experts about some of
these issues --especially
some of the nano-particle
issues which became the
forefront of this."
Burnett said the subcom-
mittee included two members
of the public.
"We had quite a good group
of people working on this,"
Burnett told the supervisors.
"And that's how we came to
our recommendations that
you see before you."
Those recommendations
included asking PG&E to do
the following:
--Assure cloud seeding
installations located in
Plumas County are secure,
including all chemicals
stored on site.
--Inform the county of any
proposed changes to current
cloud seeding programs.
--Work with PG&E science
staff and outside experts in
the fields of ecotoxicology,
atmospheric chemistry and
nano-technology to develop
a rigorous monitoring pro-
gram.
--Include silver as a moni-
tored constituent as part of
the long-term water quality
monitoring of Lake Almanor.
--Use a website to provide
real-time notice of when
cloud seeding activities are
occurring, as well as cloud
seeding activities to date..
Although cloud seeding
has been happening for 50
years in the Almanor Basin,
Burnett said there are very
few rules in place.
• "One of the biggest things
we discovered is that this is
highly unregulated by the
state of California," Burnett
said. "It's overseen by the De-
partment of Water Resources.
But there's no regulation."
The committee's vice chair-
man, Dick Daniel, pointed
out that the chemicals for
cloud seeding "could be quite
toxic when they are sitting in
a box."
"But the process that they
go through to disperse them
high into the air involves
very high heat. That re-
aggregates the chemicals
such that they are relatively
inert when they are actually
doing their cloud seeding,"
Daniel said.
"The concern dealing with
our first recommendation
is the fact that, like many
chemicals, these things can
be hazardous -- certainly in
volume, certainly if inhaled
as dust," Daniel said. "We
wanted to make sure that the
public was protected from
that. And we got assurances
that that is the case."
Chester-area Supervisor
Sherrie Thrall, who initiated
the advisory committee's
study, said she was pleased
with the committee's work.
"It was an interesting
study for everybody. Because
there is so little known. What
little is known is not aggre-
gated into a single repository
of information," Thrall said.
"So they had to spend a lot of
time looking for information.
"I'll be sitting down with
you guys (Burnett and
Daniel), and with PG&E, and
we'll look through the recom-
mendations and come up
with a plan and bring it back
to the board for approval."
New Plumas Corporation
leader
Greg O'Sullivan will be-
come the new executive di-
rector of Plumas Corporation
in January•
O'Sullivan is replacing
John Sheehan, who is re-
tiring after nea.rly 20 years
as Plumas Corporation's
executive director•
Sheehan introduced
O'Sullivan, who will be
moving from Red Bluff.
Sheehan added that
O'Sullivan was the unani-
mous choice by the panel that
interviewed four finalists for
the job.
"Greg has worked through-
out the country, and particu-
larly throughout Northern
California, in executive
directory positions," Shee-
han said. "Because of his
background, it just seemed
to be a real good fit to
everybody who was on the
interview panel."
O'Sullivan has been in
Quincy for about a week "try-
ing to immerse himself in
things that we have going
on," Sheehan said.
"I have been going layer by
layer through John's desk,
trying to brief myself,"
O'Sullivan said. "I think we
are down to the 1990s now."
Probation department
• The supervisors approved
a supplemental budget of
$130,619 for the probation de-
partment as part of the state
funding of Assembly Bill 109
Public Safety Realignment.
The money will be used
to help pay for community
supervision of inmates re-
leased from the county jail
on probation and parole.
PEW, from page 1A
in some areas.
David Schramel, owner of
Indian Valley Lumber Com-
pany, said most of the logs
his company received from
Pew's Moonlight salvage
weren't even usable•
"I would have sent 75 per-
Cent of them back to the
woods. They are cull. They
are firewood," Schramel said.
"I know that's all (Pew) had
to ship. I'm sure they didn't
give me the worst of the
batch. I'm pretty sure I had
logs that were reflective of
what the quality of the logs
out there were. And it's
lousy. They have been out
there too long."
Shaun Lemnah, who has
been falling trees• for more~
than 30 years, said the quality
of the logs he felled during
the helicopter portion of the
operation was bad -- espe-
cially the valuable cedar.
"The cedar was not there,"
Lemnah said. "What was
there, I don't have a percent-
age, but I would say at least
70 percent of it that I fell ...
was cull."
Impact on Indian Valley
Pew said he feels the weight
of an entire community on
his shoulders.
"We trustingly took that
(Forest Service cruise) sum-
mary and used it," Pew said•
"And we got ourselves in this
position because we trusted
it. And the people around
us that are hurting are the
people that trusted us."
Pew, the Board of Super-
visors and the local Forest
Service leaders said they
understanfl~th'e urgericy of
s01Ving t~6 pr~ble~i'They
know Greenville's struggling
economy is in jeopardy.
The financial impact of 30
lost jobs could lead to other
local businesses closing --
possibly even the school.
"We truly understand the
sittlation. And the urgency
and how it affects not just
Indian Valley, but Plumas
County as a whole," said
Board of Supervisors Chair-
woman Lori Simpson. "We
take it very seriously. We are
going to do everything we
can in our power•"
A Nov. 22 letter from the
supervisors to Sen. Dianne
Feinstein failed to get a
direct response as of last
week.
residents, including local
business owners, addressed
the board in support of Pew.
"It's horrific what is
happening to Randy," a
Greenville resident said, "He
is one of the most responsible
• and largest loggers in our
county.
"You as a board under-
stand that if we are ever
going to get the timber opera-
tions going again, to get
money for schools and roads,
it takes people like this ....
So fight as hard as you can.
The whole county is going to
benefit. It isn't just
Greenville."
Show of support Local foresters sympathetic
More than 50 Greenville Plumas National Forest
residents attended the Board Supervisor Earl Ford and
of Supervisors meeting last Deputy Supervisor Laurence
week. : Crabt~e each voiced support.
Many of them were forced for Pe~d~ring the~ting.
to stand in the hall because But ~they admitted their
the room was packed. Several influence over the Forest
Service contracting officer,
who denied Pew's appeal, is
limited.
"Our contracting officers
are certified by a board. We
can't go out and tell them
that 'your contract informa-
tion is wrong,'" Ford said.
"There is a board of appeals
that that stuff has to rightly
go through."
Ford said he put Crabtree
in charge of "taking another
look" at the situation. Crab-
tree said he called in a
Cairn cruise.
"We just felt like a fresh
look from a fresh perspective
would be appropriate," Crab-
tree said. "And I thought
we would have that review
today (Tuesday, Dec. 20). We
haven't got it today. When we
get it, the first person I'm
going to call is Randy."
The Forest Service review
had not reached the Quincy
office as of Friday, Dec. 23.
Crabtree said the report
was in the hands of the
regional forester, Randy
Moore• •
Pew thanked the Forest
Service for getting another
opinion• But he said he
doubts it would change
anything.
"This report is wonderful.
And Laurence, I commend
you and E~rl for doing it,"
Pew gaid: '~Whe(~ribbiem is, if
the ~eport'co~s back and
says '(The Forest Service) did
everything exactly like our
rulebook told us to,' we are
still millions of dollars short
of what I was led to believe
was there•"
No timber left behind
Pew said he was upset by
a Forest Service statement
in August that said his
company left a "significant
volume" of merchantable
timber behind•
"Every acre that we logged
on was walked and looked
there were loggers. And
when they got done, they
approved every acre," Pew
said. "So when they say that
(timber was left behind),
I think they are really reach-
ing. Apd if they are right, and
• we did leave merchantable
wood behind, we're really
not very smart .... Because
that's how we make our
living,"
Letter to Washington
The supervisors' three-
page Dec. 21 letter to Forest
Service Chief Tidwell was
critical of his agency and out-
lined the sense of urgency•
"Pew Forest Products is
on the brink of losing their
business," the letter states.
"The Forest Service has
taken little ownership and
simply states that it is buyer
beware and :thi~:Governmenf.
has no responsibility."
The letter also tells
Tidwell, "... the possible loss
of Pew Forest Products can
be attributed to a rigid
Timber Sale contract and
the inflexibility of the Forest
Service to work with their
partners to assure their
projects are implemented."
A copy of the letter was
also sent to Region 5 Forester
Randy Moore; Plumas
National Forest Supervisor
Earl Ford; Lassen National
For.est Supervisor Jerry Bird;
Sen. Dianne Feinstein;
:i i: Forest Service "measure- at by a Forest Service repre- Congressman Wally Herger
i merit specialist"from Oregon sentative. There were more and Congressman Tom
• to conduct a review of the of them out therethan I think McClintock.
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Colusa, Glenn, Plumas and Services for those that mentrecommendations.
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tern Plumas Health Care
barriers to timely breast care
services through the Clinical
Education, Coordination and
Nurse Navigation (CECaNN)
program.
In its second year of opera-
tion with continued funding
by the sacramento Affiliate
of Susan G. Komen for the
Cure, the collaborative's
CECaNN program recently
include navigation of the
health care system, education
regarding medical options,
decision-making support,
information and referral to
local resources and financial
assistance with medical costs,
as well as ancillary items
such as transportation, child/
elder care, food vouchers,
utility bills, housekeeping,
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California Health Collabora-
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For information regarding
donations, contact Barbara
Clifford, program manager,
California Health Collabora-
tive, 345-2483, ext. 203, bclifford@
healthcollaborative.org.
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