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News Round-Up

CREOSOTE RECONSIDERED

Cal Fish & Game officials will no longer endorse projects which involve sinking creosote covered wood pilings into state waters. The policy change results from a legal case charging an agency official with violating state anti-pollution laws after he allowed installation of creosote pilings at a Solano County wharf repair project. Creosote, a wood preservative derived from coal tar, contains polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that can leach into the water. Dumping PAHs in state waters has long been illegal but their use on pilings has been tolerated, says Fish & Game's Mike Rugg. In future cases where it has comment authority, the state agency will recommend against creosote use. Instead it will suggest options such as concrete, fiberglass or metal pilings, or other wood coatings. Industry representatives, who say that these alternatives are too expensive and that concrete presents an earthquake hazard, are asking Fish & Game to reconsider. Contact: Mike Rugg (707)944-5500

SELENIUM SUIT

Environmentalists and fishermen are taking Exxon and Unocal to court for discharging too much selenium into Bay waters. The suit, filed in U.S. District Court this March, says the discharges violate the federal Clean Water Act. It also contends that the selenium is a health risk for anglers, especially several minority groups who rely on Bay fish as a food source. In late 1993, the S.F. Regional Board granted the refineries a four-year extension for making mandated cuts in selenium discharges, and the plaintiffs aren't happy with the delay.

SCREENING OUT RED TAPE

Sticking out into the Sacramento River is a new kind of fish screen, akin to a giant fishing bobber, attached via a 42" diameter pipe to water diversion pumps on a Sutter County tomato farm. The screens, installed April 1, are a demonstration project not only for new fish protection technology (designed by Murray, Burns and Kielein), but also for how oft-feuding state and federal fish officials can cut red tape and get things done. Project proponents also hope to show how small farmers can more effectively protect winter-run salmon and other migratory fish.

BASE HIT

The Bay Commission's Will Travis recalls planning for the reuse of Hamilton Air Force Base as a failure - a process that took far too long (19 years) and involved too much wasted effort. To prevent a repeat performance, his agency is organizing a new forum to not only promote understanding between diverse public and private interests, but also to provide a one-stop resource for local governments grappling with actual on-the-ground conversion issues. One visit to a forum meeting - with all the region's major state and local regulatory agencies and special interests at the table - could answer a lot of the local government's questions, says Travis. Contact: Will Travis (415)557-3686

RCDS BOLSTER REGIONAL LINKS

The Bay Area Council of Resource Conservation Districts hired its first project manager, Lisa Hokholt, this spring, strengthening coordination among the region's 13 districts and boosting implementation of the Estuary Project's Comprehensive Conservation and Management Plan for the Bay and Delta (CCMP). The CCMP identifies RCDs as central facilitators of watershed management activities on private lands. "Now we have some help to link the successes of one RCD to the needs of another," says council chair Jim Toland. Contact: Lisa Hokholt (510)672-4577

UC MARE ISLAND?

It's got location, wetlands and best of all, it's polluted. That's why UC Davis officials say the Mare Island Naval Shipyard, slated to close in 1996, would make an ideal site for a research station. The university recently submitted a proposal to use the island to monitor environmental conditions in nearby San Pablo Bay, study the response of native plants and animals to pollution, track the movement of contaminants through water, air and soil, and develop new cleanup technologies. The proposal is one of about twenty now being considered by Vallejo.

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