They’re still doing it. The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has, for decades, used its land ownership to manipulate life in the Owens Valley. The latest DWP maneuver cancels leases for land under three of the Air Pollution Control District’s Owens Dry Lake air monitors. LADWP doesn’t like what the air monitors are showing.
In the APCD board agenda packet for next week’s meeting is a letter sent to Director Ted Schade from DWP Director of Water Operations, Marty Adams. The letter says “LADWP will no longer allow the use of its land to support Great Basin’s biased efforts to impose sole responsibility for controlling dust in the Owens Valley on it.” Adams wants the removal of three air monitors from LA land at the dry lake. He says the monitors “erroneously justify the issuance of numerous control orders.”
The California Air Resources Board, in its recently issued decision, disagrees with DWP and upheld that the APCD methods and monitoring are correct and that DWP has to clean up more dust. Of course, LADWP is suing the State Air Board, along with the EPA, the APCD and State Lands Commission to get out of more dust clean-up.
In his report to the APCD board in the agenda packet, Director Schade says that the three air monitors are “used by the District in the mandatory Dust ID program and they are included in the District’s Network Monitoring Plan, which is reviewed and approved by the U.S. EPA.”
Schade reports to the local air board that If the District ultimately removes these monitors, it will run a network of portable monitors and/or relocate the displaced monitors “onto lands not owned by the
LADWP.”
the owens lake clean up is being done by private contractors mostly by barnard constuction. they have done an enormous amout of work out on the lake, the days of whiteouts in lone pine are pretty much nonexistant. many of the shallow flooding areas are growing grass and tules along… Read more »
That photo was taken in 2011. All have acknowledged the dry lake is 90% cleaned up.
There’s still 10% to go.
BK
I will add .. interesting … this last big wind event we had, I noticed that there was not a good amount of dust coming off o the lake itself, but what was generating a big amount of dust blowing north .. across the lake, was the sand dunes south… Read more »
Thanks Alice for the info regarding the GBUAPD dust cams . This is the link http://www.gbuapcd.org/dustcam.htm We, meaning mostly I, need to support the Pollution District and Director Schade now more than ever . I can only agree with everyones postings on this page and I will be sending some… Read more »
Well Loved.
This is the old arrogant “you can’t make me do it” DWP that we were accustomed to from the 70’s and 80’s. You know why they’re worried; all you have to do is look at the nine GBU Air Pollution District cameras monitoring the Owens Lake every day, as I… Read more »
Spot on Alice! Unfortunately, first hand observation, photos, facts, and any other types of proof are irrelevant to the DWP. What we are witnessing here is unfolding of a political agenda. The agenda master is Mr. Villaraigosa. The mayor has played marionette master to a ludicrous stream of buffoonish puppets… Read more »
And we think California is mess now just think what California will be like when he is governor. Oh pardon me dictator.
I am glad DWP has dropped the fake “were nice” and is showing their true colors. That way we will not feel bad when DWP loses their court cases and is told by a judge to finish the clean up. I also think it is bad to have DWP in… Read more »
Steve, Your comments about the employees is wrong about putting their best foot forward, it appears you are saying they are in part making it fail. I don’t think that is right to say of them, when the fault lies in the department’s master plan, the employees are forced to… Read more »
Big Al I would hope that DWP employees would be doing their best. But if your heart is not in it how can anyone do their best work? For 100 years DWP has been about getting as much water to LA as it can. It is a big shift to… Read more »
Steve, thank you for your invite to tour it, I can see it from the highway and I have commented in the past .. how much I believe what they are doing is not working and is wrong. My point was aimed at the local employees, they are not wanting… Read more »
DWP has always been thugs!! Please read The Deepest Valley. They will do anything to anyone to take all the water there is. DWP hasn’t changed, they just put more spin on things now
At least I gave out turkeys to the poor at Christmas!
I’m actually surprised DWP ever leased the land to them in the first place. It’s like chocking on your own dust.
At times, DWP has been fairly cooperative. In fact, they participated in choosing these monitoring site locations. Now they have turned back into whining, pouty babies.
For years, the local management has been cooperative with local issues, I think it is pretty much the case still .. but it will soon change, as people come into the area from the south land and will not share some of the past management’s feeling of community. And this… Read more »
It’a all about money Trouble .. making side money on leasing their land ohh and water allotments.
Thanks again Ted!
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The DWP is simply Institutionalized Thuggery.
DWP,, don’t you Adam Henrys get tired of screwing with the people of Inyo and Mono County.
Unbelievable!!
Ranchers make noise – DWP puts them on the short leash (1 year lease) instead of multi-year lease. In 1980 Inyo County residents passed a groundwater ordinance and soon had DWP water meters put on their homes and businesses. In 2005 the mural society in Bishop sponsored a mural on… Read more »
Can’t count how many times in the past 4 decades business owners and others with DWP leases and permits told us that when they spoke up against DWP policies in public, they were privately threatened that their leases would go way up or end. Others were then afraid to say… Read more »
Typical. Nobody should be surprised. DWP is a monster from the dark side, who, now angered, will not be stopped. Evil empire, I say. Evil!