Politics, Government and Business in Southern California's Inland Empire
$1.8M goes to Hinkley School water system
February 02, 2012 5:11 PM
KATIE LUCIA, Staff Writer
HINKLEY • The regional water board signed a $3.6 million agreement with Pacific Gas and Electric on Wednesday night, dedicating half of that money to build a new water filtration system at the Hinkley School.
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/31/2012 12:33:41 PM PST
HINKLEY – The northern boundaries of that plume of contaminated groundwater continues to advance.
Water samples from new test wells – many installed this past summer – show chromium 6 contamination, above background level, extending north of Mountain General Road for the first time.
By Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 01/25/2012 04:20:13 PM PST
CHINO HILLS – Southern California Edison has been ordered to investigate another underground power-line route for the power lines due to carry 500 kilovolts of wind-generated electricity through the city.
Earlier this month, Edison turned over a 96-page document to the state Public Utility Commission that detailed “feasibility, cost and timing” on 16 possible options for building the high-voltage Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project through Chino Hills.
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Published: 18 January 2012 07:13 PM
A study of a proposed radio antenna near Wildwood Canyon State Park in Oak Glen states that the project should not have a significant impact on the scenic views of the park — a finding that opponents criticize as flawed.
Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 01/12/2012 04:22:01 PM PST
Southern California Edison this week released its report of alternative power line routes in the area of Chino Hills estimating costs of about $175 million to more than $1 billion if the project is changed by the state Public Utilities Commission.
The amount would surpass the current projected cost of building the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project by at least $8 million.
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/08/2012 06:03:56 AM PST
HINKLEY – The water agency supervising the clean-up of chromium 6 groundwater contamination here has asked Pacific Gas and Electric Co. to provide more scientific details on the study it did to determine the naturally occurring background level.
The request follows critical reports from three independent scientists recruited to evaluate the 2007 study which determined the Hinkley area has a naturally occurring chromium 6 level of 3.1 parts per billion.
Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 12/22/2011 12:55:33 PM PST
CHINO HILLS – The state Supreme Court has denied a city petition to review its case against the installation of high-voltage power lines in the city.
The city’s attorney was informed that the Supreme Court declined to review a Court of Appeal’s decision on the city’s efforts to fight the route on which Southern California Edison has plans to build 200-foot transmission towers through the city.
By Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 12/20/2011 05:45:43 PM PST
Editor’s note: The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin will report each day through Dec. 31 on the state of one of our local cities. We will address what is in store for that city in 2012 while also running down the city’s top stories of 2011. Today: Chino Hills, Thursday: Claremont, Friday: Diamond Bar.
CHINO HILLS – The fight in this city to take down 200-foot towers will continue into the new year.
Chino Hills officials said the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project is the most significant thing their city will be dealing with in 2012, especially come January.
Posted: 12/10/2011 02:15:51 PM PST
HINKLEY – The plume of chromium 6 contamination in this unincorporated community eight miles west of Barstow has leaped a mile in a year, according to maps released by the Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board.
Traditionally the plume has migrated about a foot per day, said Lisa Dernbach, senior engineering geologist with the water board.
BY JANET ZIMMERMAN
STAFF WRITER
jzimmerman@pe.com
Published: 06 December 2011 08:51 AM
A draft environmental impact report for a controversial underground water storage project in the Cadiz Valley of the Mojave Desert has been released and is available for public comment.
The project, first proposed in 2001, would involve burying 44 miles of pipeline to move surplus Colorado River water to an underground basin the size of Rhode Island. The water rights under 35,000 acres belong to Cadiz Inc., which also wants to tap water from beneath nearby dry lake beds that it says would otherwise be lost to evaporation.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Created: 12/04/2011 03:07:01 PM PST
A plan aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent by 2020 will be considered Tuesday by the the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.
Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 12/04/2011 06:08:54 PM PST
CHINO HILLS – Rep. Ed Royce’s focus at a town hall meeting Sunday was how to get 19 power towers taken down throughout the city.
Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 12/01/2011 06:21:06 PM PST
Rep. Gary Miller on Thursday shared the concerns of Chino Hills residents with federal housing officials over the installation of 200-foot electrical towers in the city.
Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 11/11/2011 06:07:05 PM PST
CHINO HILLS – The California Public Utilities Commission has ordered Southern California Edison to stop construction on its expanded power line project and ordered it to present “feasibility, cost and timing” for five alternative routes in two months.
Canan Tasci, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin
Created: 11/07/2011 11:36:13 AM PST
CHINO HILLS – The cost to fight the installation of high-voltage power transmission lines in this city has not come cheap.
BY DUANE W. GANG
STAFF WRITER
dgang@pe.com
Published: 25 October 2011 09:23 PM
Tired of the bright light from your neighbor’s house keeping you up at night?
Riverside County supervisors are trying to help. The board took the first steps Tuesday toward adopting new rules regulating light “trespass” and pollution.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/25/2011 01:57:04 PM PDT
Pacific Gas & Electric Co. has filed an appeal with the state’s Water Resources Control Board to stop an order that it provide permanent replacement water to Hinkley residents affected by a toxic groundwater plume.
Staff and wire reports
Posted: 10/20/2011 06:12:17 PM PDT
California air quality officials approved a groundbreaking package of anti-pollution controls designed to limit carbon emissions and prevent global warming, but several business interests worry the regulations will only damage the state’s business climate.
Staff Reports
Created: 10/20/2011 10:12:05 PM PDT
CHINO HILLS – The California Public Utilities Commission late Thursday ordered a temporary halt to the construction of transmission lines in Chino Hills. The lines were being installed by Southern California Edison as part of the Tehachapi Renewable Transmission Project.
Staff report
Created: 10/20/2011 05:45:05 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, hosted his annual water conference at the Inland Regional Center in San Bernardino on Thursday.
Supervisor Gary Ovitt
Canan Tasci, Staff Writer
Created: 10/19/2011 06:33:01 PM PDT
CHINO HILLS – This city has gained the attention of the Public Utilities Commission.
Members of the commission, including its president and a board member, recently visited the city to inspect the construction of 200-foot high-voltage power lines by Southern California Edison.
Neil Nisperos, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/18/2011 03:37:38 PM PDT
HIGHLAND – The federal government’s protection of a threatened fish could be catastrophic for the Inland Empire, critics told members of the House Subcommittee on Water and Power on Tuesday.
Saunders
Debra J. Saunders
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Before the Senate failed to pass his American Jobs Act Tuesday, President Obama made a last-ditch speech to talk up his troubled bill. But not once did Obama mention “green jobs” – his erstwhile jobs of the future.
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 10/12/2011 01:03:21 AM PDT
HINKLEY – The water agency overseeing the cleanup of Hinkley’s contaminated groundwater ordered Pacific Gas and Electric Co. on Tuesday to provide a new permanent water source to affected users.
BY BEN GOAD
WASHINGTON BUREAU
bgoad@pe.com
Published: 11 October 2011 06:42 AM
WASHINGTON — A plan to generate power — and local jobs — through the construction of 52 wind turbine generators in the San Bernardino National Forest is among 14 projects around the country selected by the Obama administration to move forward at an expedited pace, the White House said Monday.
Cassie MacDuff
Cassie MacDuff
cmacduff@pe.com
Published: 03 October 2011 07:35 PM
A defunct developer has left San Bernardino County owing more than $750,000 in legal fees from a lawsuit over a mountain housing tract that was approved in violation of environmental laws.
PG&E will install an agreed-upon system for the polluted area
September 29, 2011 3:03 PM
SARA MITCHELL
Staff Writer
HINKLEY • Out of five water replacement options presented by Pacific Gas and Electric on Wednesday, Hinkley residents with elevated levels of chromium 6 in their water spoke heavily in favor of keeping their wells and against signing up with Golden State Water Company.
10:40 PM PDT on Wednesday, September 28, 2011
BY IMRAN GHORI
STAFF WRITER
ighori@pe.com
Despite court setbacks, a proposed open-air sludge composting facility near the high desert town of Hinkley has once again won approval from the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors.
On Tuesday, the board voted 3-1, with Supervisor Neil Derry absent and Chairwoman Josie Gonzales opposed, to certify the Nursery Products environmental report for the third time.
The Nursery Products project was first approved by the board in 2007, but a Superior Court judge ordered the county to overturn its approval after finding part of the original environmental impact report was flawed.
Supervisors certified the project study again last year after conducting additional environmental reports.
In April, a judge found the report still inadequate.
The sole remaining issue ordered by the court was a water study showing the project would have a proper supply, said Jim Squire, a planning consultant for the county. A water study by a county hydrologist making those findings was part of the board approval.
To read entire story, click here.
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/26/2011 07:47:46 PM PDT
RIALTO – One well serving residents more than a decade ago might have delivered concentrations of perchlorate high enough to affect the development of fetuses, infants and children, state officials say.
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/25/2011 07:03:17 AM PDT
HINKLEY – Think about this happening to your part of the world.
Eight miles away there are plans for a commercial composting facility that would bring 1,100 tons per day of biosolids – the sludge left over after sewage water is treated – plus a like amount of green materials – like wood chips – and mix them in the open air and allow the mixture to cook in the sun.
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/14/2011 09:55:59 PM PDT
RIALTO – Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, asked a congressional subcommittee Wednesday to act on his legislation requiring the U.S. Geological Survey to conduct a study of the Rialto-Colton water basin that focuses on its perchlorate plume.
By Louis Sahagun, Los Angeles Times
September 9, 2011
California Atty. Gen. Kamala Harris on Thursday ventured into a community known as a “diesel death zone” for its heavy truck pollution and announced her intention to join a lawsuit challenging a massive warehouse project to be built nearby.
PG&E – Hinkley
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/06/2011 10:50:45 AM PDT
HINKLEY — When Elaine Kearney and husband Greg first purchased their 10 acres here, they would bottle up some fresh well water to take back to their Ontario home.
Kangaroo rat might detour San Bernardino street project
Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 09/04/2011 08:10:49 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – A furry little roadblock may stall the city’s plans to extend State Street.
And the 1.5-mile project to link the 210 Freeway to Fifth Street on the Westside could cost millions more because the federally protected San Bernardino kangaroo rat has been spotted in the area.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
Published: Sunday, Sep. 4, 2011 – 12:00 am | Page 3A
Gov. Jerry Brown, moving beyond the ever-vexing state budget that occupied his first months in office, is engaging in two other issues that are just as complicated.
FIRST-TIME VIOLATORS CAN NOW BE FINED
Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 08/29/2011 02:49:12 PM PDT
ONTARIO — Loud nuisance violators have been put on notice by city officials.
A recent change to the municipal code now gives police officers the authority to issue fines to first-time violators.
Liset Marquez, Staff Writer
Created: 08/28/2011 08:22:28 PM PDT
ONTARIO – A San Bernardino County Superior Court judge is expected to decide, possibly as early as today, if the city and Wal-Mart are responsible for paying the attorney fees for residents who opposed the project in the northwest side of town.
From a reader
Sunday, August 28, 2011 – 12:40 p.m.
In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren’t good for the environment.
By Ryan Hagen Staff Writer
Posted: 08/24/2011 08:31:12 PM PDT
LOMA LINDA – The City Council has decided not to have city staffers look into a possible ban on drive-through restaurants.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
If you have friends in devastated Christchurch, NZ (as we do), or relatives who survived the killer quake in Santiago, Chile (as we do) or if you lived through the deadly Loma Prieta earthquake in the Bay Area (as we did), Monday’s narcissistic hysteria among the Eastern Establishment Media about the little 5.8 tremor that rolled through Washington was more than a little offensive.
Area north of chromium 6 ‘plume’ shows elevated toxins
August 18, 2011 9:06 AM
SARA MITCHELL
Staff Writer
HINKLEY • Recent tests show elevated levels of chromium 6 in a dozen monitoring wells north of the contaminated Hinkley plume, with one well registering more than three times what’s considered a safe amount of the heavy metal.
Dutton
10:00 PM PDT on Tuesday, August 16, 2011
BY JIM MILLER
SACRAMENTO BUREAU
jmiller@pe.com
SACRAMENTO – After years of butting heads, state Senate Minority Leader Bob Dutton and officials at the California Air Resources Board finally seemed to be on the same page last summer when it came to Senate Bill 1402.
Rep. Joe Baca
By Jim Steinberg Staff Writer
Posted: 08/11/2011 12:45:03 PM PDT
RIALTO – Rep. Joe Baca, D-San Bernardino, is seeking to remove two animal species from protection under the Endangered Species Act, which he said is stalling the development of more than 8,000 residential units here.
July 26, 2011 5:29 PM
KRISTINE MCGOWAN, Special to the Daily Press
CADIZ • A massive water delivery and storage system in the works for eastern San Bernardino County is projected to create nearly 6,000 jobs and spur more than $878 million in economic activity.
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/13/2011 08:18:06 PM PDT
Pacific Gas and Electric Co. has asked a water quality board to reconsider its order requiring the utility to provide permanent replacement water for many Hinkley residents for all indoor uses including drinking, cooking and bathing.
Mitzelfelt
Public invited to planning meeting in Apple Valley
July 11, 2011 3:21 PM
From Staff Reports
APPLE VALLEY • First District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt is asking for the public to weigh in on a bill aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions by forcing cities to develop in ways that discourage lots of driving.
Group petitions for rescinding of fish habitat plan
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/10/2011 10:11:02 PM PDT
Officials from more than a dozen Inland Empire water agencies and cities will meet today with a congressional delegation in Washington, D.C., to voice opposition to a critical habitat plan for a federally endangered fish.
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 07/09/2011 10:19:24 PM PDT
RIALTO – The public disclosure that Rialto’s water system needs $42 million in upgrades and renovations is symptomatic of a national trend that civil engineers have long called alarming.
District offers unexpected sale
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/19/2011 09:06:57 PM PDT
When it rains, it pours.
Now that California’s drought is officially over, area cities are scrambling to find the money to buy part of 225,000 acre-feet of water unexpectedly up for sale by the Metropolitan Water District.
Local agencies vie for a piece of the MWD action
Mediha Fejzagic DiMartino, Staff Writer
Posted: 06/18/2011 10:12:16 PM PDT
When it rains, it pours.
Now that California’s drought is officially over, local cities are scrambling to find money to buy part of 225,000 acre-feet of water unexpectedly up for sale by the Metropolitan Water District.
By Josh Dulaney Staff Writer
Posted: 06/09/2011 05:59:19 PM PDT
SAN BERNARDINO – Teresa Flores-Lopez can see and hear the Burlington North Santa Fe rail yard from her home on West Fourth Street where she has lived for 57 years.”Before all this was there, we could sit out and enjoy the air, and now we have to be careful because we smell the diesel from the trains and we know dangerous it is,” she said. “I hope they find a reason why a lot of us are sick.”
By Shari Roan and Ellen Gabler, Los Angeles Times
June 1, 2011
Cellphone users may be at increased risk for two types of rare tumors and should try to reduce their exposure to the energy emitted by the phones, according to a panel of 31 international scientists convened by an agency within the World Health Organization.
Jim Steinberg, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/13/2011 03:14:36 PM PDT
HINKLEY – Pacific Gas & Electric Co. is forming a Community Advisory Committee related to its cleanup of groundwater contaminated with cancer-causing chromium 6.
Fish habitat raises supply concern
Josh Dulaney, Staff Writer
Posted: 04/12/2011 04:38:13 PM PDT
The San Bernardino Valley Municipal Water District has joined 10 other water agencies and the city of Redlands in warning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that it will sue if it doesn’t reverse its decision to expand critical habitat for a threatened fish along parts of the Santa Ana River.
By Patrick McGreevy, Los Angeles Times
April 13, 2011
Reporting from Milpitas, Calif.—Gov. Jerry Brown on Tuesday signed into law a requirement that California get 33% of its electricity from renewable sources, such as wind and solar energy, by the year 2020.
Federal officials have still not published any official data on nuclear fallout from Japan disaster
By John Upton on April 1, 2011 – 6:34 p.m. PDT
Radiation from Japan rained on Berkeley during recent storms at levels that exceeded drinking water standards by 181 times and has been detected in multiple milk samples, but the U.S. government has still not published any official data on nuclear fallout here from the Fukushima disaster.
By Matt Weiser
mweiser@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011 – 3:14 pm
Last Modified: Wednesday, Mar. 30, 2011 – 5:55 pm
California’s drought is over. But don’t get carried away.
That was the basic message in a proclamation issued today by Gov. Jerry Brown, which rescinds a statewide drought emergency declaration adopted in February 2009 by his predecessor.
The declaration put in place three years ago will be lifted Wednesday after the state conducts its final snow survey. After winter downpours, the state’s reservoirs are at high levels.
By Bettina Boxall, Los Angeles Times
March 29, 2011
Gov. Jerry Brown is about to make official what a winter of downpours and rising reservoir levels have already made obvious: California’s drought is over.
10:00 PM PDT on Sunday, March 20, 2011
Rep. Joe Baca
By BEN GOAD and DARRELL R. SANTSCHI
The Press-Enterprise
WASHINGTON – Seeking to unburden Inland communities from the development-stifling Delhi Sands flower-loving fly, Inland Rep. Joe Baca is pressing legislation that would amend the federal Endangered Species Act.
10:00 PM PDT on Thursday, March 17, 2011
By IMRAN GHORI
The Press-Enterprise
A radio broadcaster seeking to build an antenna tower near Wildwood Canyon State Park in Oak Glen is revising the project once again in hopes of winning approval from San Bernardino County.
On Thursday, the county planning commission continued a hearing on the proposal until May 5 at the request of Lazer Broadcasting, Inc.
Very low levels of radioactive isotopes from the damaged Japanese nuclear plant are expected to reach California as soon as Friday, but experts say the amount will be well within safe limits. A network of radiation monitors is keeping close watch.
By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times
March 17, 2011
Small amounts of radioactive isotopes from the crippled Japanese nuclear power plant are being blown toward North America high in the atmosphere over the Pacific Ocean and will reach California as soon as Friday, according to experts.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 03/15/2011 04:54:09 PM PDT
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved an option to enter into a long-term lease agreement with a Costa Mesa-based power company to develop a solar plant at the Victorville Sanitary Landfill.
Five Republicans whose votes are crucial to passage of Gov. Jerry Brown’s spending proposal demand sweeping changes in the California Environmental Quality Act. Environmentalists are outraged.
By Shane Goldmacher and Evan Halper, Los Angeles Times
March 16, 2011
The handful of Republican lawmakers most likely to provide crucial votes for Gov. Jerry Brown’s budget plan are threatening to withhold their support without a dramatic rewriting of state environmental law.
Chantal M. Lovell, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/28/2011 07:22:04 PM PST
REDLANDS – The City Council will meet at 6 tonight and view a presentation on the service priorities of the Police, Fire and Quality of Life departments.
Also on the schedule is a presentation on how to make Redlands more environmentally sustainable.
Public input sought on new transmission corridor through Hesperia, Lucerne
February 27, 2011 2:00 PM
Natasha Lindstrom
HESPERIA • Southern California Edison is planning a $750 million project to enable new renewable energy development in the Mojave Desert to connect to the power grid.
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/15/2011 07:45:27 PM PST
Environmental and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich on Tuesday shot off a letter to the federal Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment supporting its proposed public health goal for the cancer-causing hexavalent chromium in drinking water.
Adelanto city manager: Proposed ban could kill hundreds of potential jobs
February 11, 2011 4:42 PM
Natasha Lindstrom
ADELANTO • As a hearing looms over a proposed Adelanto sewer connection ban, city officials are working to quickly address their wastewater issues and make a case that a ban wouldn’t speed up the process but could kill a few hundred potential jobs.
By Duane Gang
PE Politics
on February 10, 2011 12:27 PM
Riverside County supervisors want to begin flexing their muscles in the ongoing renewable energy debate.
Supervisors don’t want to disproportionately bear the burden of renewable energy production and want a benefit to local residents even if the power produced here goes to other parts of California.
By Jim Steinberg Staff Writer
Posted: 02/02/2011 08:57:29 PM PST
COLTON – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced it would move forward with the development of regulations for perchlorate, reversing a Bush Administration decision.
Michael J. Sorba, Staff Writer
Posted: 02/01/2011 09:16:56 PM PST
Top officials from Rialto and Colton have made plans to soon meet and discuss mutual concerns such issues as traffic planning and perchlorate contamination as well as possibly settling ongoing litigation.
James Rufus Koren, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/26/2011 03:11:01 PM PST
California’s U.S. Senators have introduced a bill that would require the federal Environmental Protection Agency to set limits on the amount of hexavalent chromium in drinking water.
Wesley G. Hughes, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/22/2011 07:10:05 AM PST
A lawsuit filed in Los Angeles federal court by a national environmental group has the potential to shut down two major San Bernardino County projects.
Collection to continue
By Joe Nelson Staff Writer
Created: 01/21/2011 09:23:49 PM PST
A water technician began a battery of water tests in the High Desert town of Hinkley on Friday, gathering 13 samples that will be tested for the cancer-causing chemical hexavalent chromium, or chromium 6.
Results from the tests, commissioned by environmental and consumer advocate Erin Brockovich, should be available by the end of next week and are part of an effort by Brockovich and her team to determine the size of a contaminated groundwater plume imperiling Hinkley residents.
Hinkley ready to sell houses
Joe Nelson, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/17/2011 08:34:51 PM PST
Residents of the High Desert community of Hinkley, desiring to sell their homes to Pacific Gas and Electric, claim the utility is dragging its feet after recent appraisals of their properties.
Rep. David Dreier
By James Rufus Koren Staff Writer
Created: 01/13/2011 07:24:52 PM PST
Rep. David Dreier, R-San Dimas, has proposed a bill that would expand two wilderness areas in the San Gabriel Mountains.
Dreier’s bill, cosponsored by Rep. Judy Chu, D-El Monte, would add 18,000 acres to the Sheep Mountain and Cucamonga wilderness areas, increasing the combined size of those areas by more than 30 percent.
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