Posted on 02/09/2009 10:34:10 PM PST by Hetty_Fauxvert
One by one on Monday, rural landowners condemned the state’s proposed septic system rules during hearings in Santa Rosa and excoriated state officials for what they viewed as trespassing on their property rights.
“The state deserves a beating on this one,” said Rich Middleton of rural Sebastopol. “This smells like a bad government idea that was created by city folks.”
About 1,100 people attended a 4-hour afternoon hearing of the state Water Resources Control Board at the Wells Fargo Center. An evening session drew another 550 people. Of 44 people who spoke during the first hearing, only one demonstrated any sympathy whatsoever for the proposed septic tank regulations. The pattern was similar the second time around.
(Excerpt) Read more at pressdemocrat.com ...
Anyway, the interesting thing was their attitudes. Dodoc started out as friendly and entertaining, but became more tight-lipped as the board and their proposals were excoriated time and time again. However, her staffers were the real exhibit! They looked cranky and annoyed from the get-go. Staffer James Giannopoulos, mentioned in the article, acted like a surly professor lecturing a bunch of rowdy and obnoxious schoolchildren. He seemed to take it personally every time someone asked for clarification on a new point. Folks, if these are the people we have to convince that they have written a bunch of nonsensical rules and they need to be changed, I think we are doomed from the start!
However, I could be wrong. Maybe they were just feeling surly became Tam Dodoc had told them they WOULD be rewriting the rules whether they liked it or not. In any case, we need to attack this in two ways. First, please, please drop an email, letter, or fax to the SWRCB before the February 23 deadline. We need to get our concerns on record, as ammo for part two. Next, and more importantly, bend your state representative's ear about this! Email, letter, fax, and call them, and tell them the crappy septic and well requirements in AB885 need to be repealed ASAP, and they had better do it now before a bunch of angry country folk (who actually OWN pitchforks and guns!) show up at their offices.
I got an earful about AB885 today at the meeting. Apparently the wide-ranging mandate given to the SWRCB to come up with statewide rules governing septic systems stems from some septic problems in Malibu. Just that, one place, Malibu. From that, the powers that be decided to leap into regulating EVERYONE's septic system, on a statewide level, when the counties have been managing it pretty well so far. Jeesh.
So write the SWRCB and tell 'em to scale back their mandated rules to a reasonable level, then call/write your rep and tell 'em we don't need the rules from AB885 at all!
Write to: Todd Thompson Division of Water Quality State Water Resources Control Board 1001 I St. P.O. Box 2231 Sacramento, CA 95812.
Comments may also be sent via fax, (916) 341-5463, or via e-mail: AB885@waterboards.ca.gov.
This reminds me of San Fran where Mayor Newsome said that gay marriage is coming if we like it or not. These politicans are out of control.
Draconian measures
“This smells like a bad government idea that was created by city folks.” Pun there?
So what is the bottom line on the new regs?
From the earlier story linked above:
“The proposed regulations would have required persons who discharge waste that impairs or threatens water to file a waste-discharge report with a regional water board. Regional boards would be allowed to issue waivers of the reporting requirement, but only after septic systems were inspected for solids accumulations and groundwater samples were collected and analyzed for nearly 20 different potential components. Under the regulations, the inspections would have had to be performed every five years, at a current, estimated cost of $325 per inspection.
“Under the proposed rules, property owners with a septic system within 600 feet of a surface water body that does not meet water quality standards would have faced additional requirements, including potential retrofit of septic systems.”
And “retrofit of septic systems” means a brand spankin’ new mound system, which will run you a minimum of $30K in our area, and more likely about $45K (the SWRCB’s estimation of cost).
THAT is what got me up in arms! We have a nice little creek running about 500 feet away from our septic tank (not on our property). I can hardly wait for that creek to be listed as “impaired” and our perfectly fine septic tank to be listed as “unacceptable.”
dude the fix is in. Their minds were made up months ago.
Nope. It's been in the works since 2000 when the NRDC "sued" the State to implement TMDL (total maximum daily load) regulations on non-point pollution sources. In reality, it's a real estate racket to force rural people (read: conservatives) into "sustainable development," dolled-up tenements sitting on urban "in-fill" land taken from its former owners by eminent domain. There you will be outnumbered and outgunned by gangbangers, migrants, and unionized police. There the liberals can put a gun to your head to surrender your freedom simply by the threat to cut the power: No water, no food, no transportation.
This is the Agenda 21, brought to you by the United Nations. I've been warning FReepers about this since I published Natural Process in 2001. Too bad more didn't take it seriously.
Well at least they didn’t tell them they had to rip them out and put in a totally unnecessary sewer system at the cost of millions and millions of dollars like they did us and then after it was in full swing we got the oops... I guess you didn’t REALLY have to do it... and to make matters worse, since we don’t get pork in Arizona the locals are having to foot the entire bill.
Oh, I'd put that back at 1990, maybe even earlier, when they first started cooking up the Agenda 21 for the Rio conference in 1992.
It’s a real estate and big developers’ racket. I’ve already seen it in another state. ...checked out everyone who was involved, and they weren’t even sincere greenies. They were big business fronts and were extremely vain and hateful, even though the feds were watching.
You Californians need to stop buying anything that’s unnecessary in order to refuse the high flow of revenues. If those slow down enough, the tyrants will stop.
The principal donors to Arnold.
Interesting post. Very good thread. Thanks to all posters.
Perhaps the septic tanks would get speedy approval, if the folks used buckets - and delivered the full buckets to Sacramento for disposal....
In fact - the buckets should be placed directly next to their State Representatives Desk in the Assembly.
The State and North Coast Boards are certifiably the worst bureaucratic Brown shirts that walk the rural areas of California. They are unbelievable - what a nightmare! Try TMDLs, if you don’t like this. They are attempting to extend their jurisdiction over every land and resource use in a watershed. They want you permitted and under their absolute control.
They were surly because they dont like commoners questioning them. If only a handful had showed up, they would have been mocked and belittled from high perches.
Break out the tar and feathers. Its the only way to stop them.
Is it possible to divorce a Government?
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