Subject:  Rain on Sunday at Leona Quarry
From: "Chiye Azuma" <chiye@cazuma.com>
Date: Mon, 20 Sep 2004 23:41:36 -0700
To:  <wmadison@oaklandnet.com>, <fosalbo@oaklandnet.com>, <rward@oaklandnet.com>, <lcestes@oaklandnet.com>, <dbrooks@oaklandnet.com>, <nnadel@oaklandnet.com>, <muzegbu@oaklandnet.com>, <fssweiss@oaklandnet.com>, <mneary@oaklandnet.com>


I though you all might find it interesting, and I am hoping  -- alarmed --  to see what was happening to Chimes Creek, Edwards Ave,, and up at the Quarry during Sunday's mini storm.  Although showers were in the forecast, and despite getting a call from Mr Osalbo to make sure the BMP's were in place - the contractor FAILED TO INSTALL ANY BMP'S AT EDWARDS AND MOUNTAIN.  A group of concerned neighbors had gathered at the entrance gate at Mountain and Edwards (about 9:15 am).  This was after the worst of the rain had passed, but unchecked muddy sludge continued to flow onto Edwards and into the storm drain.  It seems to me that given the ample warning that they had, the contractor could have made a MINIMAL good faith gesture by installing some bmp's across its entrance gate - before the muddy flow started.

 According to Mr Osalbo, this did not constitute a fine because "it wasn't all that bad."  According to Mr Chapman, the detention pond was holding back the water so that the project was actually making it better for the creek.
 We STRONGLY disagree.  And as a tax paying citizen, I don't feel good about having to foot the bill for cleaning the muddy streets either.

 What's the use of having a wordy and comprehensive Creek Protection Ordinance or even pretending that the contractor is abiding by the SWPPP, if you can't even get them to place a single straw bale across their front gate?  How is the project proposing to deal with the water that's gushing from the severed pipe, not to mention the groundwater popping up from numerous cracks in the vertical earth?  And this wasn't even a "real" rain event, yet.  We're still waiting for someone from the City to give us some answers, and reassure us that this is not really the disaster that it appears to be.