Agenda Item
3a) Discussion and Possible Action Including Adoption of Resolution Ratifying the Declaration of a Local Emergency Related to the Multiple September 2020 Fires including; August Complex, Oak Fire and Hopkins Fire, as Proclaimed by the Chief Executive Officer/Director of Emergency Services and Ratifying the Existence of a Local Health Emergency as Proclaimed by the Health Officer (Sponsor: Executive Office and Health and Human Services Agency)
Request you add a section to the Declaration of a Local Emergency requesting the Governor to mobilize the National Guard and deploy 2000 troops to be trained on site to fight the August Fire Complex in Mendocino County. This map staggers the imagination. https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1Y_qCH75uA9ViOP0bao2-Cv07uB3pX3XG&ll=39.83930868033912%2C-123.48743774166351&z=9
. If much more aggressive action is not taken starting tonight, the risk of a catastrophic is high. Alan Stein Mendocino
I support the proposal. I also urge you to call for the temporary halt of any non-essential industrial process contributing to air pollution with proximity to residential neighborhoods, schools and vulnerable populations during this emergency. In the EPA publication Wildfire Smoke: A Guide for Public Health Officials (revised May 2016, page 29) it says, "A decision to restrict industrial emissions should be based on local air pollution and the emission characteristics of particular industries."
I urge you to temporarily close the Calpella Pellet Plant during this double pandemic caused by coronavirus and forest fires to protect vulnerable populations around the plant. Closing the plant will diminish air pollution in the direct vicinity of the plant. What good is the declaration of a local health emergency of we don't do all we can to protect the public? Close the plant - it makes sense and shows we care.