Written by Administrator
July 12th, 2010 at 9:00 am
It is said that the love of money is the root of all evil and human behavior certainly suggests that the adoration of the almighty greenback brings about the demise of many a man. When we come across a panhandler on the street, some of us will throw change his way while others will look in the opposite direction, assuming he is trying to mislead us and get something for nothing.
The same goes for charities and non-profits. Some of us take the good works they tout at face value while others look at all who ask for money with skepticism.
As I delved into the controversy behind Nursery Products‘ attempt to open a composting site in Hinkley, California, I discovered that not all environmentalists’ priority is the environment. As with so many movements, legitimate or not, that aforementioned almighty greenback plays a more significant role in determining what is righteous and what is not, or in this case, in what is “environmentally sound” and what is not. Few decisions are based upon ethics, integrity, or belief in the cause. And those associated with HelpHinkley.org seem to epitomize just that paradox.
We discussed HelpHinkley’s founder, Norm Diaz, in Part Two of this series. As disconcerting as that situation may be, it pales in comparison to the “environmental justice litigation organization” paid to fight the composting site. According to the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment (CPRE) website:
The Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment is an environmental justice litigation organization dedicated to helping grassroots groups across the United States attack head on the disproportionate burden of pollution borne by poor people and people of color. We provide organizing, technical and legal assistance to help community groups stop immediate environmental threats.
And here is the biography of the attorney handling the court cases for HelpHinkley:
Ingrid Brostrom, Staff Attorney
San Francisco
“Ingrid Brostrom, a graduate of the University of California-Hastings College of the Law, joins CRPE’s Delano office as an Equal Justice Works Fellow. Her fellowship project, “Don’t Waste the Valley,” focuses on waste issues facing the Central Valley ranging from hazardous waste facility expansion to biosolid application on agricultural lands. Before joining CRPE, Ingrid worked primarily on wildlife and land conservation issues. She graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz with degrees in environmental studies and politics and interned with the Jane Goodall Institute, the Center on Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club. She was an articles editor for the West-Northwest Journal of Environmental Law and Policy and published a piece on protecting culturally significant wildlife using the National Historic Preservation Act. Her focus shifted toward environmental justice after interning with the Center on Race, Poverty & the Environment during her final summer in law school. When not working, Ingrid enjoys traveling and learning about foreign cultures. She also considers herself a rugby player for life.”
In reviewing the CRPE website and Brostrom’s biography, one could easily argue that CPRE is a noble organization fighting a noble cause. One could . . . until one discovers why CPRE became involved in this battle.
Nursery Products has complied with every environmental regulation required of it. The site has been designed to withstand a 1000-year flood and other precautions so that there is no possible way to contaminate the water supply. It will not be on the electrical grid but will instead be self-sufficient with its own solar-powered system to supply its electrical needs. And it will only use about the equivalent of two households’ worth of water. It is located eight miles from the nearest community and two miles from the nearest dwelling. It will provide a cost savings to local jurisdictions and reduce pollutants being emitted by diesels that otherwise must truck biosolids to Arizona or Kern County. So why has HelpHinkley and CRPE sued to stop the project?
The problem, as we have said in previous articles, is McCarthy Farms, located in Bakersfield, California. McCarthy Farms is Nursery Products’ nearest competitor and stands to lose a great deal of revenue received from Southern California cities and counties, which are currently forced to ship their biosolids to Kern County for lack of a local composting or disposal site.
McCarthy Farms just happens to have donated $400,000 to the Center of Race, Poverty & the Environment. So much for taking a stand for what is right!
Here is a photo of McCarthy Farms’ composting site in Bakersfield taken from their own website:
CRPE argues that the Hinkley site should be enclosed but their large benefactor’s site is not. CRPE argues that the Hinkley site is too close to the community, yet their benefactor’s site is in Bakersfield, surrounded by a community. As one can see from his photo, it located much closer than two miles from the nearest dwelling. The Hinkley site has been built for a 1000-year flood. The McCarthy site has been built for a 25-year flood. And much more.
Since CRPE is about helping the poor and those of color, one should ask them how much of that $400,000 donation has gone to help the people of Hinkley. To top it off, because the court ordered Nursery Products to provide a supplemental Environmental Impact Review to address issues raised by HelpHinkley and CRPE, Nursery Products will be required to pay attorney’s fees expected to total close to $400,000. Again, is CRPE sharing any of their new-found wealth with the citizens of Hinkley? Or is it possible that the citizens of Hinkley are simply a pawn in an environmental law firm’s shakedown of the owners of a legitimate and environmentally sound venture by manipulating the system that was otherwise meant to protect our citizens’ from corporate greed and injustice?
To read entire story, click here.
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