Monthly Archives: March 2022

Concord CA, Discovery Builders, Environmental Impacts, Environmental review, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Pittsburg CA, Save Mount Diablo, Seeno

Seeno attorneys request new trial – Save Mount Diablo says motion “Should be denied”

Seeno’s attorneys request new trial following Save Mount Diablo legal victory against Faria project in Pittsburg hills

The Pittsburg hills where the Faria project has been approved for construction, as seen from the San Marco neighborhood in Pittsburg. Photo: Scott Hein
607-acre, 1,650-home development next to planned Thurgood Marshall Regional Park – SMD leader says motion for new trial “should be denied”

Contra Costa Herald, by Allen D. Payton, March 3, 2022

Last Friday, Feb. 25, 2022, attorneys representing Discovery Builders and their Faria new home development requested a new trial for the lawsuit by Save Mount Diablo, following a judge’s decision in favor of the environmental group to stop the project. As previously reported, on March 30, 2021, Save Mount Diablo filed a lawsuit challenging the City of Pittsburg’s approval of the 1,650-unit Faria project, on the ridgeline between Pittsburg and Concord. According to the agenda item documents, the master plan overlay district encompasses approximately 607 acres of land. (See related article)

The motion for a new trial was filed “on the basis that the Court’s decision is not supported by the evidence and controlling legal authorities. Specifically…that there were several portions of this Court’s February 10, 2022, Statement of Decision that may not have fully considered evidence in the administrative record.” In addition, the motion asks that the “Court vacate its Statement of Decision and enter a new decision denying SMD’s motion” and “conduct a new hearing”. Faria project Motion for New Trial Parsons Dec. ISO Mot for New Trial      Raskin Dec. ISO Mot for New Trial    Faria project new trial Proof of Service

A hearing date on the motion for a new trial has been set for April 14, 2022.

The now named Thurgood Marshall Regional Park is directly adjacent to the Pittsburg City Council approved Faria project. Herald file graphic. Credit: Save Mount Diablo/Google Earth.

On the day of the decision, Save Mount Diablo issued the following press release about their legal victory: [Previously published here on BenIndy, see Save Mount Diablo Wins Major Legal Victory Against Seeno to Protect Pittsburg’s Hills.]

Save Mount Diablo Says Motion for New Trial “Should Be Denied”

Asked about the motion for a new trial, Save Mount Diablo Executive Director, Ted Clement responded, “Regarding the Seeno companies/Pittsburg request for a new trial, the Court has already rejected their arguments for reasons fully set forth in its decision. Their Motion for New Trial does not question the adequacy of the administrative record on which the Court properly based its decision (and which the City itself prepared) or suggest there was any other irregularity or unfairness in the hearing. Instead, they seek a second bite of the apple.”

“Their Motion reargues issues that were fully briefed and addressed in the Court’s Decision,” he continued. “They also seek to introduce irrelevant and improper extra-record evidence, violating black letter law that CEQA actions must be decided on the record that was before the agency when it made its decision.”

“Because their Motion provides no basis for this Court to order a new trial solely on the issues decided adverse to them, it should be denied,” Clement concluded.

AMPORTS, Keeping Watch on Earth News, Petroleum Coke (Petcoke), Port of Benicia, San Francisco Baykeeper, Toxic pollutants, Valero Benicia Refinery

Valero Hit With Suit Over Bay Area Petroleum Coke Pollution

[BenIndy Editor: Last October, Baykeeper announced a Notice of Intent to sue, offering 60 days for a settlement.  Evidently there was no agreement to settle.  Today’s news below.  See also: earlier reports on the Benicia Independent.]

SF Baykeeper Sues Water-Discharging Businesses

Law Street Media, by Jose Rascon, March 2, 2022
On Thursday, plaintiff San Francisco Baykeeper filed suit against Amports, Inc APS West Coast, Benicia Port Terminal Company, and Valero Refining Company in the Northern District of California. San Francisco Baykeeper is claiming that the defendants have unlawfully discharged pollutants into public waters.

The defendants, according to the complaint, are a group of corporations that conduct business in the automotive processing industry, while the plaintiff is a nonprofit organization “whose main focus is to hold polluters and government agencies accountable to create healthier communities and help wildlife thrive”

The complaint states that the defendants have “directly discharge petroleum coke into the Carquinez Strait at the Port of Benicia and that Defendants do so without a valid permit under the Clean Water Act and in violation of California law.”

The plaintiff is claiming that the defendants have gone out and discharged harmful toxins in the Port of Benicia through several means. Some of these means have been through “the washing of petcoke and pollutants off the deck of the ship and other loading-related equipment, directly into the Bay,” as well as the direct “aerial deposition of particulate matter into the water from Amports’ conveyance system and operations.”

According to the plaintiff the substance that the defendants have allegedly been discharging, known as Petroleum coke, or petcoke is a harmful byproduct of petroleum refining. Some of the properties that Petcoke contains are heavy metals such as copper, zinc, nickel arsenic, and mercury. This substance is being claimed to be “a harmful and deleterious to aquatic ecosystems, animal and plant species in and around waters, and poses risks to human health”.

Other allegations that the plaintiff is asserting is that the substance Petcoke makes its way into the public waters of the Carquinez Strait where the defendants do not have the proper authorization to work in.

Ultimately, the defendant is facing 10 counts, including NPDES permit violations, Clean Water Act violations, and violation of unfair competition law.

The Plaintiff is being represented by Schute, Mihaly & Weinberger LLP

#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Omicron variant, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

COVID-19 in Benicia and Solano County: Encouraging, but still on the move

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  TAP HERE for today’s latest information.

By Roger Straw, Wednesday, March 2, 2022

Solano County reported 96 new COVID infections since last Friday.  Benicia’s 7-day case count remains in SUBSTANTIAL transmission rate, but only 1 case above MODERATE.  Solano County continues in HIGH transmission rate, but is nearing SUBSTANTIAL.

Solano Public Health COVID dashboard, Wednesday, March 2, 2022:

NOTE: Solano County Public Health will update its COVID Dashboard ONLY ON MONDAYS & THURSDAYS as of March 14, 2022

DEATHS:  Solano reported no new deaths in today’s report. Trending: Fifteen new deaths were reported in February, ALL over 65 years of age.  We can’t be sure this is a final number because the County often post-dates deaths and hospitalizations. Still, it’s encouraging.  Until February, the County saw increasing COVID-related deaths each month since last November, rising to 30 in January.  A total of 396 Solano residents have now died of COVID or COVID-related causes over the course of the pandemic.

CASES BY AGE GROUP: The color-coded chart (below) shows an alarming steady increase among youth and children in Solano County.  The chart displays quarterly and recent snapshots in time by age group, each as a percentage of total cases since the outbreak began.  Increases are in red and decreases are in green as reported by Solano County.  Note the continuing increase among children & youth of Solano County.  The population of those age 0-17 in Solano County is roughly 22%.
TRANSMISSION RATE: Solano is still experiencing a HIGH transmission rate, with a total of 514 new cases over the last 7 days. Encouraging: this is down from 1,126 at last report, and approaching the CDC’s SUBSTANTIAL rate for the first time since December 22 of last year.  CDC FORMULA: Based on Solano County’s population, 450 or more cases in 7 days places Solano in the CDC’s population-based definition of a HIGH transmission rate.  We would need to drop below 225 cases in 7 days to rate as having only MODERATE community transmission.

ACTIVE CASES: Solano reported 544 ACTIVE cases today, down from 604 at last report, still almost double the County’s 329 active cases on December 1.

CASES BY CITY – Wednesday, March 2, 2022:

  • BENICIA added 10 new cases since last Friday, a total of 3,018 cases since the outbreak began.  TRANSMISSION RATE: **Benicia has seen only 14 new infections in the last 7 days, just barely remaining in the CDC’s SUBSTANTIAL rate of transmission.  Only one fewer case will drop Benicia into the desired MODERATE rate of transmission.  For a city with Benicia’s population, anything over 27 cases in 7 days is considered HIGH TRANSMISSION. (See chart below.)

  • Dixon added 15 new cases since last Friday, total of 4,148 cases.
  • Fairfield added 71 new cases since last Friday, total of 21,241 cases.
  • Rio Vista added 4 new cases since last Friday, total of 1,071 cases.
  • Suisun City added 16 new cases since last Friday, total of 5,585 cases.
  • Vacaville added 58 new cases since last Friday, a total of 19,426 cases.
  • Vallejo added 107 new cases since last Friday, a total of 24,860 cases.
  • Unincorporated added 0 new cases today, a total of 191 cases.

TEST RATE:  Solano County’s 7-Day Percent Positive Test Rate shot up after Christmas and has continued through last week’s very high 13%, but fell dramatically this week to only 8% today. Even at this lower rate, SOLANO DOES NOT COMPARE FAVORABLY: The CALIFORNIA 7-day % positive rate fell today from 3.2% to only 2.5%.  [Source: Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Tracking Center]  AND the U.S. 7-day % positive rate fell today from 5.3% to only 4.1%. [Source: CDC COVID Data Tracker.] 

HOSPITALIZATIONS:

CURRENT The number of those currently hospitalized with COVID in Solano County rose today from 39 to 45 persons.  Current hospitalizations don’t tell the whole story, as it reflects both admissions and discharges.  Only from the increase in total hospitalizations can we know how many new admissions have come to our hospitals.

TOTAL hospitalizations over the course of the pandemic – Solano County’s total hospitalized must be independently discovered in the County’s occasional update of hospitalizations by Age Group and by Race/Ethnicity.  Solano Public Health has not updated its Age Group and Race/Ethnicity charts since February 18.  Our known total since the beginning of the outbreak (as of Feb 18) was 3,693 Solano residents hospitalized.

ICU Bed Availability in Solano County rose today from 24% to 27%, still in the Yellow danger zone.

Ventilator Availability  improved today from 66% to 71% available. 

HOW DOES TODAY’S REPORT COMPARE?  See recent reports and others going back to April 20, 2020 in my ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).

>The data on this page is from the Solano County COVID-19 Dashboard.  The Dashboard is full of much more information and updated Monday, Wednesday and Friday around 4 or 5pm.  On the County’s dashboard, you can hover a mouse or click on an item for more information.  Note the tabs at top for “Summary, Demographics” and “Vaccines.”  Click here to go to today’s Solano County Dashboard.

See also my BENINDY ARCHIVE of daily Solano COVID updates (an excel spreadsheet).  I have also archived the hundreds of full CORONAVIRUS REPORTS posted here almost daily on the Benicia Independent since April 2020.

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#wearamask, Benicia CA, Benicia City Council, Coronavirus, Covid 19, Face coverings, Omicron variant, Solano County CA, Solano County Health Department, Vaccine, Vaccine mandate

Solano County cuts back on COVID reporting

NOTE: The information below is not the latest.  TAP HERE for today’s latest information.

At the top of yesterday’s Solano County COVID Dashboard, Public Health announced that it will no longer post updates on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

The notice reads: Solano County Public Health Dashboards **Notice: Dashboard will be updated on Mondays and Thursdays starting the week of March 14, 2022**

This is further evidence of our Public Health Officer’s misreading of the urgency and still alarming spread of the virus here in Benicia and throughout the County. Solano leadership seems oblivious to the potential rise of the new “stealth variant” of COVID, BA.2. (See Yale Medicine, Omicron and the BA.2 Subvariant: A Guide to What We Know).

The past should provide a key warning: Solano Public Health cut back on its sharing of COVID data once before.  In the third week of June last year (2021), when the Delta variant had subsided some and we found ourselves in a lull, Public Health quit reporting 5 days a week, and went to their current M/W/F dashboard updates.

We never returned to the 5-day reporting, even as Omicron blossomed, sickened and killed.

I wrote to our too optimistic Public Health Officer, Dr. Bela Matyas, expressing my disappointment, and copied my Solano County Supervisor, Monica Brown – but I doubt my warning will have any effect.