This page links to news organization articles and videos covering the
Royal Gorge LLC expansion plans, and to official rulings issued by regulatory agencies which
may impact these plans. Please note some newspapers
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If you are aware of a newspaper article or of a video or of a ruling not listed below, please let the Webmaster know. Thanks.
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April 10: Agenda for Joint DSPUD-SLCWD Wastewater Facilities Meeting April 10, 10am
(pdf).
The joint DSPUD/SLWCD committee is meeting at 10 am to plan future modifications to the waste water treatment plant to conform to current and future regulations.
Lake management ordinance 2009-789
(pdf 3.5 Mbytes)
is to be discussed and voted on at this Friday SLCWD board meeting. On the subject of the DSPUD permit, SYRCL is on the agenda to present their objections to the current proposals.
The Lahonton Regional Water Quality Control Board
has scheduled a March 11, 2009, 4 pm session to discuss settlement of Northstar's violation of NPDES General Permit for Storm
Water Discharges Associated With Construction Activities. Comments are to filed filed with the Board no later than March 5, 5pm. Meeting is to be held at North Tahoe Conference Center,
8318 North Lake Blvd.,
Kings Beach, CA 96143. For background refer to SierraSun article:
Northstar district seeks portion of water quality violation settlement.
February 12:
Update on SYRCL's "Project Yuba Headwaters".
February 12: SLPOA's President sent a letter to Assemblyman Dan Logue asking for his intervention to resolve the SLCWD permit issue
(pdf)
Miner "Mickey" S. Gray III, a longtime Donner Summit resident, has been named as the 5th District representative on the Placer County Planning Commission, officials said Friday.
Gray, president and owner of Woodcraft Construction, was appointed by Jennifer Montgomery, who was elected to represent the 5th District in November.
"Mickey Gray is one of the most ethical people that I've ever met and, as someone who has worked in the building industry, he understands the challenges and complications of land-use planning," Montgomery said in a news release.
Gray is a longtime member of Truckee-Donner Land Trust, former vice president of the Donner Summit Area Association and was a volunteer firefighter for Donner Summit Fire Department. - Bob Walter
February 3: The Regional Water Quality Control Board issues a- a tentative order requiring DSPUD to
cease and desist from discharging contrary to requirements (pdf); b- a tentative new (NPDES) permit (pdf); c-
a tentative NPDES permit addressing dilution (pdf); and d- an annoucement for an April23/24 public, with March 6 as the latest date for written public comments
(pdf). Get it all about DSPD operations: background, facts and opinions.
January 28: KVMR Evening Newscast
Wednesday, Jan. 28th, 2009 (iTunes Radio). -
A Discussion about Sewage Treatment
and how it Affects Water Quality.
A few weeks ago, the Donner Summitt Public Utility District was fined nearly 50 thousand dollars for not meeting water quality standards for the discharge from their sewage treatment plant into the South Fork of the Yuba River. The fine highlights the difficulty of meeting ever tightening water quality standards on treatment facilities and the associated costs for municipalities. Brian Bahouth takes listener calls for a conversation with Tom Skjelstad, Donner Summit PUD General Manager and sewage treatment consultant Dr. Bob Emerick.
January 17: KVMR Evening Newscast, Monday, Jan. 12th, 2009
(iTunes audio)
- Donner Summit Public Utility District Fined $49,000.00:
After repeated warnings, the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board has fined the Donner Summit Public Utility District $49,000.00 for violation of water quality standards in the Yuba River. Paul Emery spoke with Control Board spokesperson Bill Ruckheiser and began by asking if this is a severe fine.
Quote from the Regional Control Board Control Board spokesperson Bill Ruckheiser:
"Every sewage treatment plant has its own particular situation, everyone has limitations that they have to meet to keep the rest of us safe and keep California's water clean. There are similar sewage treatment plants up in the mountains, at similar elevations, with similar cold temperatures, and they meet their requirements ... In other counties there have been situations where the operator sewage treatment plant has not been able to get it together, and the county is taking over."
Januray 15: Save Donner Summit: (Re)-Clarification about ECO:LOGIC's role (the highly respected Engineering and Consulting firm).
Tom Skjelstad, DSPUD General Manager: "The District is required to have on staff a WWTP Operator with a minimum Grade 3. (There are 5 grades.)
We lost our grade 3 due to an unexpected death. So we contracted with ECO:LOGIC for operator services.
ECO:LOGIC provided us with Jim King who is a Grade 5. This was by way of a service agreement between the District and ECO:LOGIC.
This was the arrangement when the District filed its Report of Waste Discharge on March 30, 2007.
In July of 2007, Jim King left ECO:LOGIC and became an employee of DSPUD.
So long story short, ECO:LOGIC was the facility operator when we filed our ROWD but is now our consulting engineer."
January 10: DSPUD Permit Application (
pdf) filed with
the Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board on March 2007.
January 8: SierraSun -
$49,000 fine for Donner Summit utility discharge -
Fines handed out after high levels of nitrates, ammonia found in South Yuba River
By Greyson Howard.
January 7: DSPUD's response to the Regional Control Board on the Notice of Violation (
pdf). (Get background).
December 2: Indymedia -
State Board Revokes Auburn Dam`s Water Rights.
The landmark order cited California`s tough `use it or lose it` water rights policy,
in which the Water Board noted that the Bureau failed to construct the project
and apply water to beneficial use with due diligence as
required by state law, according to Friends of the River.
'This is a great victory for millions of people who utilize this
river every year,' said Ron Stork, senior policy analyst for Friends of the River (FOR).
'Hopefully, this action closes a chapter on the 35 year effort to build one of California`s most useless
and most expensive dam projects ever conceived.
Auburn Dam is without purpose, without funding, and now without water.'
November 28: The Regional Water Control Board regulating the summit's waste water treatment plant
imposes a
mandatory minimum fine in the amount of $49,000
as a result of 7 serious violations of effluent discharge limitations in 2007 and 2008.
The maximum penalty set by code for these violations is $316,780,000.
A
public hearing is scheduled for 5/6 February 2009
unless the summit's utility (DSPUD) either pays the fine or proposes compliance projects by December 30, 2008.
(Get background).
November 25, 2008: Placer County Board of Supervisors - Placer County Contractors Association (PCCA)
requests permit fee deferral to encourage new constructions.
November 4: Placer County Surpervisor Election - Supervisor Montgomery! Jennifer Montomery, a local summit resident, soundly defeated incumbent pro-developer Bruce Kranz!
October 31: Sierra Sun - Royal Gorge XC Resort is reducing its winter hours of operation -
Development project still in the works by Greyson Howard. "Do they have a secret plan they will roll out after the election or
are they heading for bankruptcy? I have heard them all," Joseph Gray said. "Who knows, but the general opinion is, Gee, what is going on?"
October 7: Save Serene Lakes: As part of their "Project Yuba Headwaters",
the South Yuba River Citizens League (SYRCL)
sent a letter to the regional water quality control
board with their comments concerning the algae
growth "notice of violation" that DSPUD
received last July. Their
comments document a
long list of violations and ask that any new
permit or plant expansion permit take them into
consideration.
"In
contrast to DSPUD's Report of Waste Discharge, Mr. Reedy's (SYRCL's River Science Director) analysis of dilution potential
indicates that DSPUD is willing to discharge to the South Yuba River in volumes and at
times that would yield a river composed of almost one-half effluent."
October 7: DSPUD is calling a board meeting on very short notice for tonight for the purpose of choosing an interim Board member to replace Lorrie Van Meter - Is the Brown Act being violated?
October 1: Governor Schwarzenegger Vetoes AB 2447, the Fire Safety Bill!
Summer 2008
September 23: Save Donner Summit - An upbeat Donner Summit Public Utility District (DSPUD) board of directors passed Resolution 2008-10
authorizing the general manager to request activation of DSPUD's latent park and public facilities powers. A large audience representing many
diverse members of the Placer and Nevada County summit community as well as Royal Gorge LLC. and Sugar Bowl testified in support of the resolution,
which is the first step
to claim available Placer County capital funds. Once secured, the board intends to empower a commission made
of community members to make recommendations on park and public facilities projects. Members of the audience suggested a cross country ski trail,
an indoor facility for young children activities, creation of new trails, ...
September 13: Sierra Lakes County Water District (SLCWD) board meeting - Following a complaint filed
with the State Water Board (SWRCB)
by a local resident, state inspectors have determined that
SLCWD has been in violation
of its permit since 1964 with regard to an obscure law passed in 1912 about "direct diversion".
This law is now being enforced aggressively by the State, due to pressure from farmers,
whose water allocation is been cut dramatically.
In a worst case scenario, SLCWD may have to buy unappropriated water to cover unauthorized
diversion between June 14 and August 31.
For a deeper understanding of the issue, refer to
SLCWD President's letter
on the subject.
Quoting Wade Freedle from the letter: "They (the state water board)
complimented us on the meeting agenda and background material brochure
that we had prepared and stated that with the exception of direct diversion
we were operating within all the parameters of our license".
September 9: Donner Summit Public Utilities District (DSPUD) - In response to
the Notice of Violation
issued on August 5 by the California Regional Water Quality Control Board,
the district, through its consultant, states that it cannot consistently
meet the letter of its current permit (as per Control Board order
R5-2002-0088)
with regard to effluent nitrate concentration as measured at
the exit of its waste water treatment plant, but points out that public health is not
threatened because the concentration of nitrate drops
by a factor of 24 through dilution in the South Yuba river.
"Current attempts at complying with the limitations contained in Order R5-2002-0088
require feeding the biological treatment process a synthetic wastewater so
that an adequate biology is available when a significant amount of real wastewater
requires treatment during holiday weekends.
Very low wastewater temperatures also contribute to inhibiting the biological treatment process from
performing in a robust manner".
Download the
full technical report in response to the Notice of Violation
September 7. Save Serene Lakes: download the Letter
by Royal Gorge LLC. to the Sierra Nevada Conservancy (a State agency) opposing the award of a grant to the Donner Summit Area Association
to fund a scientific study of water resources at the Summit.
September 5. Sacramento Bee: Supervisor race - Former candidate and Meadow Vista businessman Bob Houston has
publicly endorsed Jennifer Montgomery and
her campaign for the November 4th election. "Placer candidate for supervisor wins key endorsement"
September 2. Save Donner Summit - November SLCWD board election:
Candidates' official statements are now available.
We will publish any endorsements and expanded candidate statements
sent to us (webmaster@savedonnersummit.org).
August 27. Wall Street Journal: "Vail Resorts Inc.'s RockResorts, Vail's resort arm, recently abandoned Lake Tahoe Development
Co.'s $420 million Chateau at Heavenly Village at the California border lake, citing the project's trouble
landing financing". For the press release about the abandoned project read
The Chateau at Heavenly Village.
August 17. San Francisco Chronicle on the difficulties encountered by Palo Alto developer Clarum Homes to unload eighteen
luxury homes at Kirkwood ski resort: read
Ski properties on auction Sept. 14 at cut rates.
"Some minimum bids will be nearly half the initial list price."
August 15. The California Regional Water Quality Control Board issued a notice
of violation to the Donner Summit Public Utilities District: "Based on the field observations, it is a reasonable conclusion that the DSPUD
effluent discharge was at least a major contributing factor to a reportedly rare,
highly unusual, transient growth of filamentous green algae in the South Yuba
River in June 2008 in the reach from the DSPUD effluent discharge point,
downstream through the Towle Mountain Estates area, but not as far downstream
as Kingvale. The filamentous biofilm tracks fairly well to the effluent discharge
point,". Download the full text of
The Notice.
August 10. Excess algal growth and eutrophication found downstream of DSPUD's outfall into the South
Yuba River is being investigated - Donner Summit Clarion
August 2008.
April 8. Sierra Sun on Dyer mountain development going bankrupt:
Conservation groups against development considering their next move.
Dyer Mountain Associates financial trouble could be a symptom of a larger declining real estate trend, said Peter Van Zant with Sierra Watch, and could have implications for other Sierra projects.
Specifically, he said Royal Gorge, a 950-unit cross country ski resort planned for Donner Summit, could be in for some of the same problems.
'That lack of interest from the investment community in Dyer Mountain also has implications for Donner Summit,' Van Zant said. 'We understand that Royal Gorge LLC. has been looking for outside investors too.'
SYRCL (South Yuba River Citizens League) publishes a newspaper called the
Sierra Citizen.
The summer 2007 edition's
main feature
is on
the proposed development for Donner Summit
and there is also an
editorial by
executive director Jason Rainey.
