West Hayward CA: Eastshore Energy Power Plant

This Monday, July 21, 2008, the CEC will hold what will hopefully be the last evidentiary hearing regarding the Eastshore Power Plant at Hayward City Hall, Council Chambers (2nd floor), 777 B St. Hayward, CA.  Details on the meeting can be found here. The meeting will go from approximately 1-5pm with a public comment period from 6-8pm.

The same day, there will be a protest rally outside of City Hall from 5-6pm, near the fountain. Although the CEC’s proposed decision is to deny the Eastshore power plant, the decision is not yet final and Tierra is pulling out all the stops to try to get this power plant approved. This is likely to be the last chance the residents get to show the CEC that we are opposed to this power plant. Please attend this protest - bring your signs, your neighbors and your families! Free parking at the City garage - please carpool if possible.

Daily Review article about the meeting and protest

Assemblymember Mary Hayashi and Mayor Michael Sweeney will be holding a town hall meeting about the California Energy Commission’s proposed rejection of the Eastshore Energy Center and Hayashi’s new legislation that would give Hayward the power to reject additional power plants (AB1909).

The meeting will be held on July 11, 2008 from 2-4pm at Hayward City Hall, Council Chambers (2nd floor). See this link for details. Please attend if you have questions or comments about the power plants for the mayor and Assemblymember Hayashi.

The California Energy Commission’s presiding member’s proposed decision was released yesterday, June 20, 2008. It recommends that the Eastshore Energy Center’s application be denied due primarily to safety concerns about aircraft coming into the Hayward Airport flying over the power plant’s stacks, as well as the violation of Hayward’s local laws and ordinances.

The actual decision can be downloaded here under “Commission’s Documents” and easier-to-read news coverage of the decision can be found here .

This is not the absolute final decision from the Energy Commission, but it means that it is extremely likely that the Eastshore Energy Center will NOT be built. The Presiding Member’s Proposed Decision will now be presented to the full Commission in Sacramento for a final vote, and according to this article , the Commission has never voted against the presiding member’s proposed decision.

Before the vote, there will be a public comment period which ends July 15, according to this notice . There will also be one more public hearing held at Hayward City Hall on July 21, 2008 (see the notice for details) to address some remaining issues.

This is a huge victory for the people of Hayward! Although the final nail has not been placed into the Eastshore coffin, we are optimistic that the full Commission will concur with Comissioner Byron’s analysis and deny this plant.

In an article in the Daily Review yesterday, the interviewer asked the candidates for City Council how they stood on the power plant issue. Both Marvin Peixoto and Francisco Zermeno said they oppose both plants, however on February 15, 2007, they both voted FOR the Eastshore plant, as members of the Planning Commission!

The minutes of that meeting can be viewed here and the vote is on page 8 of the PDF. Specifically, Commissioner Mendall put forth a motion that Eastshore is NOT CONSISTENT with Hayward’s General Plan and the Industrial Zoning district laws. Commissioners Lavelle and McKillop agreed with him, and Commissioners Peixoto, Zermeno, and Sacks voted against the motion, essentially saying that it was ok with them to build this power plant so close to a residential neighborhood. Commissioner Thnay abstained, saying there was not enough information. This split vote then sent the issue to the Hayward City Council, where they voted unanimously that the Eastshore Power Plant is not an acceptable land use.

I am appalled that Peixoto and Zermeno, 2 of only 3 city officials who voted in favor of Eastshore, now claim they oppose the plant, without admitting, explaining, or apologizing for their voting record. Are they really opposed to the plant or is it just now the politically savvy thing to say in Hayward??

The facts speak for themselves. Trust a candidate’s voting record, not what they say to get elected.

Rob Simpson, candidate for Hayward City Council, has kindly provided us with these astonishing figures:

The 300,000 pounds of particulate matter from the 2 plants [Eastshore and Russell City] will bring us to 175% of attainment (the legal limit).
CEC FSA
pdf page59 of 173

The bigger planned San Francisco repower project emission profile compared to Eastshore: we’ll get close to 50% more nitrous oxide, 3 times the carbon monoxide, 4 times the particulate matter, 10 times the precursor organic compounds and 3 times the sulfur dioxide and less energy and that’s the smaller of the 2 plants planned for Hayward.

San Francisco
Nitrogen Oxides 39.8 tons per year
Carbon Monoxide 27.9 tons per year
Particulate Matter (PM10) 18 tons per year
Precursor Organic Compounds 7.7 tons per year
Sulfur Dioxide 2.7 tons per year
Output of 145 megawatts (MW)
BAAQMD SF PDOC

Eastshore Energy Center, Hayward
Nitrogen Oxides 54.35 tons per year
Carbon Monoxide 84.45 tons per year
Particulate Matter (PM10) 64.39 tons per year
Precursor Organic Compounds 76.11 tons per year
Sulfur Dioxide 6.63 tons per year
Output of 115.5 megawatt (MW)
BAAQMD Eastshore PDOC

It is highly disturbing that such an disproportionately polluting plant might be placed so close to homes and schools.

Thank you Rob for providing this information and for fighting these plants at the highest levels. Don’t forget to vote for Rob Simpson for City Council on Tuesday, June 3!

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) released a study yesterday that says that PM 2.5 (fine particulate matter) is 70% more lethal than previously thought. See this article from the 5/22/08 Fresno Bee for details. The Eastshore power plant would produce extremely excessive amounts of PM 2.5, thanks to the use of technology normally reserved for car engines, not power plants.

Select quotes from the Fresno Bee article:

“In a grim announcement Wednesday, state officials said airborne soot prematurely kills up to 3,000 San Joaquin Valley residents each year, nearly triple the previous estimate.

The California Air Resources Board said a two-year public health study showed that PM-2.5, or fine-particle pollution, is 70 percent more lethal than scientists had suspected….

The debris is inhaled deep into the lungs, triggering asthma and other lung problems as well as contributing to heart disease. In the past decade, state officials had estimated it caused the premature deaths of more than 1,000 valley residents each year….

The new study reflects advances in medical research that have allowed scientists to better gauge the health effects of pollution.

In its study, the air resources board revised the statewide PM-2.5 mortality estimate from 8,200 annually to as many as 24,000.

Bart Croes, chief of the state air agency’s research division, said the study probably could be used to help push for lower PM-2.5 health thresholds. The federal level is 15 micrograms per cubic meter.

Many scientists believe people would be safer at half that level, but it will take more research to establish a lower figure.

“We really don’t know what the health-protection level is,” Croes said.”“

Given this new data, coming from the state air board itself, it would be completely unconscionable for the California Energy Commission to approve the Eastshore power plant to be placed literally a block away from residents. If they admit they don’t know what a safe level is, how can they tell us that it is safe?

There will be a rally against the power plants at Chabot College (25555 Hesperian Blvd. Hayward) on Tuesday May 20th, from 11am - 1pm in Cesar Chavez Plaza (between the bookstore and cafeteria). There will be speakers and live music.

Need more info? Contact:

Students for Social Justice:
club_ssj(at)yahoo.com

Power Plants Task Force:
Ssperling(at)chabotcollege.edu

Citizens Against Pollution:
andy_psi(at)sbcglobal.net
grandviewrealty(at)comcast.net

Chabot College Map

The June 3, 2008 election is fast approaching. Several candidates for Hayward City Council have been involved in the power plant issue - either for or against. Here are our thoughts and their records on the issue.

We strongly endorse ROB SIMPSON for City Council. Rob has been heavily involved in the fight against the two Hayward power plants. He has even gotten the Russell City Energy Center project put on hold by filing an appeal with the EPA! This article from the Daily Review mentions some of Rob’s efforts to stop the Russell City/Calpine plant. Rob also has a long history of improving the environment of Hayward by being a founding member of the Clean and Green Taskforce and donating over 30,000 redwood trees, among other accomplishments. Visit Rob Simpson’s website to find out more about his fight against the power plants and his stance on other issues affecting Hayward.

Candidate Barbara Halliday voted against the Eastshore Energy power plant while on the City Council. Although most other Councilmembers also voted against Eastshore, including fellow candidates Olden Henson and Bill Quirk, Ms. Halliday has been the most outspoken, speaking out against Eastshore at numerous public meetings with the California Energy Commission. She also recently traveled to Sacramento to support Assemblymember Hayashi’s bill that would prevent the CEC from siting two power plants in one city if that city did not approve of the second plant. However, Ms. Halliday, Mr. Henson, and Mr. Quirk have all supported the Russell City Energy Center as past and/or present members of the City Council.

Candidates Francisco Zermeno and Marvin Peixoto voted FOR the Eastshore power plant as members of the Planning Commission in Feb 2007. This resulted in a tied outcome (3 for, 3 against, 1 abstained) which caused the issue to be sent to the city council. This article covers the original planning commission meeting. Instead of nipping this ill-conceived project in the bud (as city staff recommended), Zermeno and Peixoto let it proceed, sending a mixed message to the CEC.

This article covers a recent debate between the candidates, including a discussion of the power plant issue and other issues facing Hayward.

Joanne Gardiner’s blog has additional power plant and candidate information.

Registered Democrats - please vote for Fortney Pete Stark and Mary Hayashi in the Democratic primary for US Representative and State Assemblymember, respectively. Pete Stark wrote a letter against Eastshore to the CEC. Mary Hayashi has been outspoken against Eastshore and has introduced legislation in the State Senate that would prevent two power plants from being placed within one city, if it is against the city’s wishes.

DON’T FORGET TO VOTE ON JUNE 3!

A fundraising dinner and auction to help defray some of the costs of fighting the power plants will be held on Februrary 29th. Assemblymember Mary Hayashi will be there as a featured speaker!

Please see the invitation at this link: energyinvitecolor61.pdf  for details on how to attend and/or how to donate to the cause. Please note we are not organizers, we’re just passing the word along.

Assemblymember Mary Hayashi just sponsored a bill in the state assembly that could potentially prevent the Eastshore power plant from being built. See the article Bill Takes Aim at Eastshore Plant from the Daily Review for details.

The bill would prevent the CEC from overriding local laws in order to site a power plant in a given location if another plant already exists or is approved for that area. The Russell City Energy Center has been already been approved for Hayward and the City Council has ruled that the Eastshore plant does not conform to our local land use ordinances. Currently the CEC can overrule Hayward’s decision against Eastshore, but this bill would take away their ability to do that.

This bill is exactly what is needed to bring some sanity and parity to the power plant siting process in California, so communities like ours will not become packed with power plants against the wishes of the local government and population. Thank you Assemblymember Hayashi!