October 18, 2004

A few upcoming hearings regarding protection of wildlife and wildlife habitat in the Alameda Creek watershed:

1) SUNOL COMPOST FACILITY

The Alameda County Waste Management Authority (ACWMA) will hold a hearing this Wednesday, October 20, at 7 pm at the Sunol Glen School Auditorium in Sunol, to take public comments regarding the proposed construction of a 40 acre compost facility along Andrade Road in the Sunol Valley. The compost facility would be located next to Sheridan Creek, a tributary of Alameda Creek, and nearby known populations of the California red-legged frog and the California tiger salamander.

The ACWMA has prepared a draft Environmental Impact Report for the project that is available at www.stopwaste.org/organics. Comments on the DEIR will be taken until November 18.

2) CA TIGER SALAMANDER

Your support is needed for state protection of the imperiled California tiger salamander, an imperiled species which is found in the Livermore Valley and the Sunol Valley in the Alameda Creek watershed. The California Fish and Game Commission will hold a public hearing on the proposed state listing of the tiger salamander in Concord on Thursday October 21, 2004, at 10 am at the James W. Kellogg Training Center, 935 Detroit Avenue.

The Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) originally petitioned the Commission for emergency state Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of the California tiger salamander in 2001. The Commission rejected the petition despite the recommendation of 13 independent scientists that the species be emergency listed and despite a Dept. of Fish and Game recommendation that the Commission accept the petition. The federal government listed all populations of the species under the federal ESA in 2003 and the CBD re-petitioned for state listing in January 2004.

For more information about the tiger salamander go to the CBD web site at http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/species/ctigersal/index.html

3) ALTAMONT PASS WIND FARM BIRD KILLS

The Alameda County Board of Supervisors will hear an appeal of the permits for Altamont Pass wind turbines to determine whether the permits adequately address the ongoing killing of thousands of birds of prey each year by wind turbines, including hundreds of golden eagles. The public hearing for the appeal will be held on November 4 at 9 am, at the Board Chambers, 1221 Oak Street, Room 512, 5th Floor, in Oakland.

The Center for Biological Diversity, CAlifornians for Renewable Energy, and Golden Gate Audubon Society appealed Alameda County's approval of 29 permits for wind turbines at Altamont Pass because the County had: failed to conduct an environmental review; had no meaningful conditions attached to the permits requiring reduction of bird kills or compensation for bird deaths; had failed to retire a single lethal turbine in 20 years of operation; awarded lawbreaking companies with indefinite or 20 year permit renewals; and required no scientifically valid monitoring of bird kills to determine whether proposed mitigation measures actually will work to reduce bird kills.

Please plan on attending the hearing or write to your Alameda County Supervisor and request that they grant the appeal, revoke the existing Conditional Use Permits, and conduct a full environmental review under CEQA for all wind turbines. For more information go to http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/swcbd/programs/bdes/altamont/altamont.html