(June 2008)

Background

The proposal for a landfill on 443 acres of the Cortina Band of Wintun Indians' land on Cortina Ridge is moving forward. Cortina Ridge, a beautiful place of oak woodlands, chaparral and deep wooded valleys, is about to be trashed. Sierra Club is fighting to protect this pristine area.

This project will fill four canyons with garbage. Water from these canyons flows into several creeks and ultimately into the Sacramento River. Pollution from the landfill threatens these waters.

The landfill will be on a highly unstable soil type and within 200 feet of known earthquake faults. Federal regulations prohibit landfills in seismically active areas. There are also stringent requirements for liners and covers for landfills. The landfill developer is asking for waivers from all these requirements. Landfills eventually erode and leak. The developers propose no funding for long-term monitoring, maintenance and mitigation for the landfill after its closure.

A Faulty NEPA Process?

The landfill, because it is on sovereign ground, would be exempt from local and state regulations and laws that normally govern projects of this type. It would only be subject to certain federal regulations administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, and under the oversight by the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA).

The BIA initiated the Environmental Impact Statement process required under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in 1995. In 1999, the draft EIS was released for review. The EIS analyzed the project at a very early stage when many specific details were unknown. Colusa County submitted extensive comments regarding inadequacies in the EIS. The County sued in federal court contesting findings, impacts and mitigation measures, but was forced to drop the lawsuit due to cost.

In response to concerns regarding the adequacy of the EIS, it was argued that the BIA had used a “tiered” NEPA process and that a more detailed environmental analysis and consideration of mitigation measures would be performed at a later date as more specific project details became known. Inadequacies in the EIS were to be addressed in these later analyses. Pursuant to NEPA, subsequent environmental review was to take place prior to issuance of permits from federal agencies, such as the EPA.

However, despite the County's concerns and the requirement to perform further environmental review, no further NEPA analysis of the project has occurred. Considerable new information regarding potential impacts of the landfill has become available since the original analyses. The BIA must evaluate this new information, prepare the next NEPA document in the “tiered” process, and propose measures to mitigate for these impacts. Nonetheless, the project is moving forward on several fronts, including requests to the EPA for waivers.

On April 21, 2008, the EPA received three site-flexibility requests for the Cortina Integrated Waste Management Facility: one for seismic stability demonstration, one for alternative liner, and the third for alternative final cover. EPA will be reviewing these requests for compliance with EPA regulations governing landfills.

This landfill is a bad idea! It will not only destroy this pristine area, but it could also set a precedent for trashing tribal lands all over the country. The Sierra Club has joined with the Colusa County Citizens for Safe Water, Colusa County and Lake County Boards of Supervisors, Colusa County Farm Bureau, Family Water Alliance, Tehama-Colusa Canal Authority, Congressmen Wally Herger and Mike Thompson, and many others to oppose this landfill.

HELP STOP THIS PROJECT. You were asked to contact EPA previously on this issue. It is important that they hear from you again at this critical juncture. Time is running out for the Cortina Ridge.

Contact Elizabeth Forsyth at USEPA, Region IX, Waste Management Division, 75 Hawthorne Street, WST-7, San Francisco, CA 94105; 1-415-972-3380; forsyth.elizabeth@epa.gov.

Ask EPA to:

• Require the new NEPA environmental studies and a new public review process prior to issuance of permits from any federal agency.
• Require that the landfill developer/operator provide long-term bond funding to cover maintenance, monitoring and mitigation after the landfill is closed.
• Deny any waivers from the liner or cover requirements.
• Deny waivers from their own seismicity requirements for landfills.

For more information, see www.savesacvalleywater.com or contact Pam Nieberg, chair of the Yolano Group Sierra Club at pnieberg@dcn.davis.ca.us or 530-756-6856.