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"content": "\u003cp>California’s oil industry has once again quashed an attempt in the state Capitol to increase penalties on refineries that violate air quality laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the fourth time in a decade that the industry has successfully killed or delayed such an endeavor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest proposal was put on hold last week, just days before the Legislature finishes its work for the year on Sept. 14. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), who authored the \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/bill/AB1465/2023\">bill\u003c/a>, said the move was prompted by concerns some lawmakers would vote against it because it wasn’t weakened enough to satisfy California’s main oil industry group, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became apparent that we were going to need more time to work on AB 1465 with our sponsor, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and with opposition groups who engaged us on the possibility of additional amendments,” Wicks said in an email on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WSPA represents the oil companies that own all of the Bay Area’s petroleum refineries. The region’s Chevron, Valero, PBF, Marathon and Phillips 66 plants have for decades produced gasoline and jet fuels that have powered major components of the region’s transportation sector. But they have also received \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/rules-and-compliance/compliance-assistance/notices-of-violations/novs-issued\">hundreds of notices of violations\u003c/a> from local air regulators in recent years, stemming from minor flaring incidents to severe accidents that forced nearby residents to stay indoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those incidents prompted Wicks to propose tripling the maximum penalty amounts oil companies would pay when their refineries violate air quality regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Asm. Buffy Wicks at a July 11 hearing\"]‘This morning in Martinez, which I drive through on my way here, there was a toxic dust release. This is happening in our communities all the time.’[/pullquote]There are a variety of fine amounts refineries can face, but the general limit on those fines is currently $10,000. Environmentalists and some Bay Area elected leaders have described those penalties as part of the mere cost of doing business for companies like \u003ca href=\"https://chevroncorp.gcs-web.com/static-files/359d5f9b-5519-476e-976c-8ace50143c49\">Chevron, which earned $6 billion in the second quarter of this year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks’ bill would increase the ceiling on fines to $30,000 per violation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But WSPA has opposed any attempts to crack down on air quality violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even before Wicks sidelined the bill last week, the industry group had already convinced legislators to significantly change the proposal several months ago by expanding its scope. Under the changes, the fines would also apply to dozens of industrial facilities that release chemicals into the air, including refineries, that are covered by Title V of the federal Clean Air Act. In the Bay Area there are \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/permits/major-facility-review-title-v/title-v-permits\">dozens of such sites\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no public policy rationale for singling out refineries,” wrote Shant Apekian, vice president of California policy and strategic affairs at WSPA, in a letter to Wicks in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While that complaint arose this spring, lawmakers did not amend the bill until June — and not everyone was happy with the change. Several industry and public agency associations, including the California Association of Sanitation Agencies, urged legislators to vote “no” on the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unlike refineries, which are privately held for-profit corporations, public wastewater agencies provide an essential public service and all costs to the agency, including penalties, are borne by the rate-paying public,” the group wrote to legislators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even though lawmakers in the Senate approved the change, WSPA continued to fight against the bill. It’s a debate that has taken place behind closed doors — not in public committees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the bill has \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1465\">sailed through all of its legislative votes\u003c/a> and was headed for a full vote in the state Senate when, last week, Wicks abruptly asked that the proposal be moved to the “inactive file,” essentially scuttling any debate or votes until next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those involved in conversations with Wicks and WSPA say that decision was driven by a push by the petroleum association to make the proposal effective only in rare cases — in WSPA’s words, only when “discharge results in a significant increase in hospitalizations, residential displacement, shelter in place, evacuation or destruction of property.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But air district officials say that definition is too narrow, because refineries often violate air regulations in less extreme incidents that are still dangerous to human health. They argue the standard the industry is arguing for won’t actually provide a deterrent or change how refineries do business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label='Related Stories' tag='refineries']For example, last November the PBF refinery in Martinez \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952517/martinez-refinery-chemical-release-poses-no-long-term-hazard-tests-find\">released nearly 50,000 pounds of powdered, industrial chemicals, much of it landing on residential neighborhoods\u003c/a>. The accident led to investigations by the EPA, FBI, Contra Costa County regulators and the air district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the changes the oil industry wants to make, that release would not be covered by the proposed fine increases, local air regulators said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In our view, the purpose of the bill is to strengthen penalties for those types of events, not to protect them,” said air district spokeswoman Kristine Roselius, adding that the changes proposed by WSPA “would have provided an economic incentive to large facilities such as refineries, to downplay events as they were happening if they felt they could avoid higher penalties.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this kind of successful pushback sounds similar, that’s because it has happened every time a refinery fine increase proposal has emerged in Sacramento over the last decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, just as another Wicks bill to do something similar was about to get a vote in the state Senate, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11923242/watered-down-state-bill-to-punish-refinery-pollution-gets-scrapped-after-oil-industry-pushback\">she killed it because it was watered down so much\u003c/a> that even the industry dropped its opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) proposed tripling some of the most serious penalties for refineries. Amid opposition from the oil industry — and, on the other side, pushback from environmentalists and the mayors of Richmond and Benicia, who said the proposal wasn’t strong enough — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11660005/facing-widespread-opposition-lawmaker-ends-effort-to-increase-refinery-penalties\">that bill never even got a hearing\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2013, then state Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) introduced legislation to raise such penalties on the heels of a major fire at Richmond’s Chevron refinery, the worst refinery accident in the Bay Area in the last few decades. That bill died on the Assembly floor, also after opposition from oil companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even as the debate rages on in Sacramento, the problem for communities around these refineries persists. The day Wicks presented this year’s bill — at its final hearing before a Senate committee — the Contra Costa County refinery owned by PBF Energy released petroleum coke dust. Some residents described the dust as a “flaky ash.” The pollution came eight months after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952517/martinez-refinery-chemical-release-poses-no-long-term-hazard-tests-find\">much more severe chemical release from the same facility\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This morning in Martinez, which I drive through on my way here, there was a toxic dust release,” Wicks said at the July 11 hearing. “This is happening in our communities all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>California’s oil industry has once again quashed an attempt in the state Capitol to increase penalties on refineries that violate air quality laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s the fourth time in a decade that the industry has successfully killed or delayed such an endeavor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest proposal was put on hold last week, just days before the Legislature finishes its work for the year on Sept. 14. Assemblymember Buffy Wicks (D-Oakland), who authored the \u003ca href=\"https://legiscan.com/CA/bill/AB1465/2023\">bill\u003c/a>, said the move was prompted by concerns some lawmakers would vote against it because it wasn’t weakened enough to satisfy California’s main oil industry group, the Western States Petroleum Association (WSPA).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It became apparent that we were going to need more time to work on AB 1465 with our sponsor, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and with opposition groups who engaged us on the possibility of additional amendments,” Wicks said in an email on Friday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>WSPA represents the oil companies that own all of the Bay Area’s petroleum refineries. The region’s Chevron, Valero, PBF, Marathon and Phillips 66 plants have for decades produced gasoline and jet fuels that have powered major components of the region’s transportation sector. But they have also received \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/rules-and-compliance/compliance-assistance/notices-of-violations/novs-issued\">hundreds of notices of violations\u003c/a> from local air regulators in recent years, stemming from minor flaring incidents to severe accidents that forced nearby residents to stay indoors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those incidents prompted Wicks to propose tripling the maximum penalty amounts oil companies would pay when their refineries violate air quality regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There are a variety of fine amounts refineries can face, but the general limit on those fines is currently $10,000. Environmentalists and some Bay Area elected leaders have described those penalties as part of the mere cost of doing business for companies like \u003ca href=\"https://chevroncorp.gcs-web.com/static-files/359d5f9b-5519-476e-976c-8ace50143c49\">Chevron, which earned $6 billion in the second quarter of this year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wicks’ bill would increase the ceiling on fines to $30,000 per violation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But WSPA has opposed any attempts to crack down on air quality violations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And even before Wicks sidelined the bill last week, the industry group had already convinced legislators to significantly change the proposal several months ago by expanding its scope. Under the changes, the fines would also apply to dozens of industrial facilities that release chemicals into the air, including refineries, that are covered by Title V of the federal Clean Air Act. In the Bay Area there are \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/permits/major-facility-review-title-v/title-v-permits\">dozens of such sites\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There is no public policy rationale for singling out refineries,” wrote Shant Apekian, vice president of California policy and strategic affairs at WSPA, in a letter to Wicks in April.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While that complaint arose this spring, lawmakers did not amend the bill until June — and not everyone was happy with the change. Several industry and public agency associations, including the California Association of Sanitation Agencies, urged legislators to vote “no” on the bill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Unlike refineries, which are privately held for-profit corporations, public wastewater agencies provide an essential public service and all costs to the agency, including penalties, are borne by the rate-paying public,” the group wrote to legislators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even though lawmakers in the Senate approved the change, WSPA continued to fight against the bill. It’s a debate that has taken place behind closed doors — not in public committees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, the bill has \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1465\">sailed through all of its legislative votes\u003c/a> and was headed for a full vote in the state Senate when, last week, Wicks abruptly asked that the proposal be moved to the “inactive file,” essentially scuttling any debate or votes until next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those involved in conversations with Wicks and WSPA say that decision was driven by a push by the petroleum association to make the proposal effective only in rare cases — in WSPA’s words, only when “discharge results in a significant increase in hospitalizations, residential displacement, shelter in place, evacuation or destruction of property.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But air district officials say that definition is too narrow, because refineries often violate air regulations in less extreme incidents that are still dangerous to human health. They argue the standard the industry is arguing for won’t actually provide a deterrent or change how refineries do business.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>For example, last November the PBF refinery in Martinez \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952517/martinez-refinery-chemical-release-poses-no-long-term-hazard-tests-find\">released nearly 50,000 pounds of powdered, industrial chemicals, much of it landing on residential neighborhoods\u003c/a>. The accident led to investigations by the EPA, FBI, Contra Costa County regulators and the air district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under the changes the oil industry wants to make, that release would not be covered by the proposed fine increases, local air regulators said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In our view, the purpose of the bill is to strengthen penalties for those types of events, not to protect them,” said air district spokeswoman Kristine Roselius, adding that the changes proposed by WSPA “would have provided an economic incentive to large facilities such as refineries, to downplay events as they were happening if they felt they could avoid higher penalties.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this kind of successful pushback sounds similar, that’s because it has happened every time a refinery fine increase proposal has emerged in Sacramento over the last decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, just as another Wicks bill to do something similar was about to get a vote in the state Senate, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11923242/watered-down-state-bill-to-punish-refinery-pollution-gets-scrapped-after-oil-industry-pushback\">she killed it because it was watered down so much\u003c/a> that even the industry dropped its opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2018, Sen. Bill Dodd (D-Napa) proposed tripling some of the most serious penalties for refineries. Amid opposition from the oil industry — and, on the other side, pushback from environmentalists and the mayors of Richmond and Benicia, who said the proposal wasn’t strong enough — \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11660005/facing-widespread-opposition-lawmaker-ends-effort-to-increase-refinery-penalties\">that bill never even got a hearing\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2013, then state Sen. Loni Hancock (D-Berkeley) introduced legislation to raise such penalties on the heels of a major fire at Richmond’s Chevron refinery, the worst refinery accident in the Bay Area in the last few decades. That bill died on the Assembly floor, also after opposition from oil companies.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even as the debate rages on in Sacramento, the problem for communities around these refineries persists. The day Wicks presented this year’s bill — at its final hearing before a Senate committee — the Contra Costa County refinery owned by PBF Energy released petroleum coke dust. Some residents described the dust as a “flaky ash.” The pollution came eight months after a \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952517/martinez-refinery-chemical-release-poses-no-long-term-hazard-tests-find\">much more severe chemical release from the same facility\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This morning in Martinez, which I drive through on my way here, there was a toxic dust release,” Wicks said at the July 11 hearing. “This is happening in our communities all the time.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Former Air District Officials Sue Agency, Alleging Racist, Sexist Behavior",
"headTitle": "Former Air District Officials Sue Agency, Alleging Racist, Sexist Behavior | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>Two recently fired top managers at the agency tasked with protecting the Bay Area from air pollution say the district is beset by a culture of racism, sexism and homophobia, perpetuated in part by the person who ran the district for close to two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rex Sanders, who oversaw four offices at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and Terri Levels, the agency’s former human resources officer, are separately suing the agency that fired them, they say, after they spoke up about rampant discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Rex Sanders, former chief administrative officer, Bay Area Air Quality Management District\"]‘When the air district isn’t at its best, it’s the residents who suffer.’[/pullquote]“My value and what I brought to the table in my role was overlooked and when I spoke about it, it was just swept under the rug,” said Levels, the first Black woman to hold the position of HR officer at a director level at the district. “Being in leadership, I was expected to take notes as a secretary. I’ve been talked down to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the air district isn’t at its best, it’s the residents who suffer,” Sanders told KQED in a joint interview with Levels. Sanders, who was the agency’s chief administrative officer, identifies as gay and nonbinary and uses the pronouns he/they. “Employees that are under that type of duress can’t innovate or take risks. They can’t work collaboratively together. It reduces efficiency at the agency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two lawsuits, filed earlier this month in San Francisco Superior Court, come eight months after another top official left the agency after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11933997/senior-official-at-air-district-on-leave-over-alleged-racist-sexist-incident\">using a racist, sexist slur\u003c/a> during a confrontation with a security guard at the agency’s headquarters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That episode involved Damian Breen, the district’s senior deputy executive officer of operations. He retired after the incident, which was first reported by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breen’s conduct is cited among a series of comments and practices Sanders and Levels recount in their lawsuits. Some of the others involve former executive officer Jack Broadbent, who led the agency for 18 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the lawsuits, Broadbent, who is not named as a defendant, told a colleague that women who cried in front of him were using a tactic to “manipulate men.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a female worker complained to upper management about the aggression of white heterosexual men in the office, Broadbent allegedly responded that the employee needed to “wear her big girl panties.” He made fun of the facial hair of a Jewish, LGBTQIA+ board member, stating that she looked like Hitler, Sanders alleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Broadbent, in an email response to KQED, said he had read \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/08/05/bay-area-air-quality-agency-a-discriminatory-old-boys-club-hostile-to-minorities-lawsuit/\">news coverage\u003c/a> about the complaints but had not read the legal documents and couldn’t comment on ongoing litigation. But he defended his record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During my 18 years as executive officer for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, I took extensive efforts to diversify the organization at all levels to reflect the Bay Area community and culture,” Broadbent said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11933997,news_11957894,news_11791348\" label=\"Related Stories\"]“I hired and promoted women, people of color and LGBTQIA+ individuals into leadership positions throughout the agency. I created the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the air sistrict to identify and adopt policies and practices to ensure and promote diversity and cultural awareness. I am proud of these efforts and strongly do not agree with the allegations as reported in the media,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firing of Sanders and Levels, along with Breen’s retirement, took place after other recent leadership changes at the district. The agency fired Jeff McKay, then its chief financial officer. Broadbent retired in June 2022. Brian Bunger, the agency’s top lawyer for more than 20 years, also left last January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanders and Levels claim McKay used the derogatory term “torpedo t____” in reference to a female contractor’s breasts. The lawsuits say Broadbent subsequently used the same words to refer to the woman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levels and Sanders both alleged that they, along with other women of color and LBGTQIA+ individuals at the agency “were routinely silenced by white heterosexual men in group settings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, the suits say McKay held his hand up at a meeting to a woman of color to signal her to stop speaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McKay said in a text he had not seen the complaints until contacted by KQED and declined to comment after receiving them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/TedrickG/status/1545471783976873984?s=20\">awkward appearance before the board\u003c/a> before he left the agency, McKay claimed he was threatened with being fired if he told district board members about “ongoing and escalating illegal activity at the district,” activity he never publicly outlined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuits describe the air district as “a hostile and discriminatory ‘old boys club’ where heterosexual white men are in charge, while others are deprived of equal opportunities and treatment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suits recount a number of incidents they say bear out those allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both cite an episode during which a white heterosexual male employee is alleged to have “grabbed a woman of color by her wrist when she tried to leave a conversation, forcing her to stay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suits say a top executive called multiple women of Asian descent the wrong names in several meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levels’ suit says a manager asked her if he could borrow her hair for Halloween and wore fake mole stickers, a kind of temporary face tattoo, to mock her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An air district representative pushed back against the allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our position is that the legal claims are without merit, and our legal team is confident the facts and circumstances will prove this to be the case,” said the district’s communications director, Kristine Roselius, in an emailed statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The air district works to foster an inclusive culture and we view diversity as one of our greatest strengths,” the statement added. “Once all the facts are known, we fully expect to prevail in this matter and remain committed to upholding the highest standards of professionalism and fairness for all our employees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roselius pointed to copies of air district letters that were included in the complaints that explained the agency’s firing decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those letters accused Sanders and Levels of making a series of costly missteps in overseeing district policy and setting pay levels for officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the issues raised in the 15-page letter air district interim Chief Operating Officer Sharon Landers sent Sanders was the fact they approved a 46% pay increase for the acting district counsel while the counsel was investigating a complaint Sanders had filed against other district executives. The district found that Levels had also exercised “poor judgment” in approving the raise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Landers also accused Sanders of wasting district resources and being dishonest during the process of developing an anti-bullying policy for the district, and she charged Sanders had been insubordinate and disrespectful toward her on numerous occasions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Landers wrote that during a forum Sanders made a “veiled reference to unfounded allegations made against me from a previous job. Taking cheap shots at me like this, when you knew I was in the hospital dealing with serious health problems, was unfair, mean-spirited, and highly inappropriate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanders disputes the district’s justifications for their firing. They argue they were fired for opposing the agency’s discriminatory practices, that during their time at the district they were treated poorly because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, sex and disability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanders and Levels also say the workplace problems are getting in the way of the job the regulatory agency is tasked with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s really hard for an agency to establish equitable processes and systems for the community we serve if we’re not having those same systems,” Levels said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two recently fired top managers at the agency tasked with protecting the Bay Area from air pollution say the district is beset by a culture of racism, sexism and homophobia, perpetuated in part by the person who ran the district for close to two decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Rex Sanders, who oversaw four offices at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, and Terri Levels, the agency’s former human resources officer, are separately suing the agency that fired them, they say, after they spoke up about rampant discrimination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“My value and what I brought to the table in my role was overlooked and when I spoke about it, it was just swept under the rug,” said Levels, the first Black woman to hold the position of HR officer at a director level at the district. “Being in leadership, I was expected to take notes as a secretary. I’ve been talked down to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When the air district isn’t at its best, it’s the residents who suffer,” Sanders told KQED in a joint interview with Levels. Sanders, who was the agency’s chief administrative officer, identifies as gay and nonbinary and uses the pronouns he/they. “Employees that are under that type of duress can’t innovate or take risks. They can’t work collaboratively together. It reduces efficiency at the agency.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The two lawsuits, filed earlier this month in San Francisco Superior Court, come eight months after another top official left the agency after \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11933997/senior-official-at-air-district-on-leave-over-alleged-racist-sexist-incident\">using a racist, sexist slur\u003c/a> during a confrontation with a security guard at the agency’s headquarters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That episode involved Damian Breen, the district’s senior deputy executive officer of operations. He retired after the incident, which was first reported by KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breen’s conduct is cited among a series of comments and practices Sanders and Levels recount in their lawsuits. Some of the others involve former executive officer Jack Broadbent, who led the agency for 18 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>According to the lawsuits, Broadbent, who is not named as a defendant, told a colleague that women who cried in front of him were using a tactic to “manipulate men.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When a female worker complained to upper management about the aggression of white heterosexual men in the office, Broadbent allegedly responded that the employee needed to “wear her big girl panties.” He made fun of the facial hair of a Jewish, LGBTQIA+ board member, stating that she looked like Hitler, Sanders alleges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Broadbent, in an email response to KQED, said he had read \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2023/08/05/bay-area-air-quality-agency-a-discriminatory-old-boys-club-hostile-to-minorities-lawsuit/\">news coverage\u003c/a> about the complaints but had not read the legal documents and couldn’t comment on ongoing litigation. But he defended his record.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“During my 18 years as executive officer for the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, I took extensive efforts to diversify the organization at all levels to reflect the Bay Area community and culture,” Broadbent said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“I hired and promoted women, people of color and LGBTQIA+ individuals into leadership positions throughout the agency. I created the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion within the air sistrict to identify and adopt policies and practices to ensure and promote diversity and cultural awareness. I am proud of these efforts and strongly do not agree with the allegations as reported in the media,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The firing of Sanders and Levels, along with Breen’s retirement, took place after other recent leadership changes at the district. The agency fired Jeff McKay, then its chief financial officer. Broadbent retired in June 2022. Brian Bunger, the agency’s top lawyer for more than 20 years, also left last January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanders and Levels claim McKay used the derogatory term “torpedo t____” in reference to a female contractor’s breasts. The lawsuits say Broadbent subsequently used the same words to refer to the woman.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levels and Sanders both alleged that they, along with other women of color and LBGTQIA+ individuals at the agency “were routinely silenced by white heterosexual men in group settings.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For example, the suits say McKay held his hand up at a meeting to a woman of color to signal her to stop speaking.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>McKay said in a text he had not seen the complaints until contacted by KQED and declined to comment after receiving them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/TedrickG/status/1545471783976873984?s=20\">awkward appearance before the board\u003c/a> before he left the agency, McKay claimed he was threatened with being fired if he told district board members about “ongoing and escalating illegal activity at the district,” activity he never publicly outlined.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The lawsuits describe the air district as “a hostile and discriminatory ‘old boys club’ where heterosexual white men are in charge, while others are deprived of equal opportunities and treatment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suits recount a number of incidents they say bear out those allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both cite an episode during which a white heterosexual male employee is alleged to have “grabbed a woman of color by her wrist when she tried to leave a conversation, forcing her to stay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The suits say a top executive called multiple women of Asian descent the wrong names in several meetings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Levels’ suit says a manager asked her if he could borrow her hair for Halloween and wore fake mole stickers, a kind of temporary face tattoo, to mock her.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An air district representative pushed back against the allegations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our position is that the legal claims are without merit, and our legal team is confident the facts and circumstances will prove this to be the case,” said the district’s communications director, Kristine Roselius, in an emailed statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The air district works to foster an inclusive culture and we view diversity as one of our greatest strengths,” the statement added. “Once all the facts are known, we fully expect to prevail in this matter and remain committed to upholding the highest standards of professionalism and fairness for all our employees.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roselius pointed to copies of air district letters that were included in the complaints that explained the agency’s firing decisions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those letters accused Sanders and Levels of making a series of costly missteps in overseeing district policy and setting pay levels for officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Among the issues raised in the 15-page letter air district interim Chief Operating Officer Sharon Landers sent Sanders was the fact they approved a 46% pay increase for the acting district counsel while the counsel was investigating a complaint Sanders had filed against other district executives. The district found that Levels had also exercised “poor judgment” in approving the raise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Landers also accused Sanders of wasting district resources and being dishonest during the process of developing an anti-bullying policy for the district, and she charged Sanders had been insubordinate and disrespectful toward her on numerous occasions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Landers wrote that during a forum Sanders made a “veiled reference to unfounded allegations made against me from a previous job. Taking cheap shots at me like this, when you knew I was in the hospital dealing with serious health problems, was unfair, mean-spirited, and highly inappropriate.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanders disputes the district’s justifications for their firing. They argue they were fired for opposing the agency’s discriminatory practices, that during their time at the district they were treated poorly because of their sexual orientation, gender identity, sex and disability.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sanders and Levels also say the workplace problems are getting in the way of the job the regulatory agency is tasked with.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "smelly-smoke-from-oakland-metal-recycler-fire-prompts-health-concerns",
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"content": "\u003cp>A large fire that broke out at the Schnitzer Steel recycling yard in West Oakland around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday sent huge plumes of stinky smoke across the East Bay and has prompted ongoing concerns about potential air quality risks from the burning aluminum, tin, steel and iron that were present in the large scrap metal pile where officials said the fire began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With fires like this, the material that’s burning, the smoke contains more things in the particulate matter. It also likely has other toxic air contaminants, including metals and volatile organic compounds,” said Michael Flagg, principal air quality specialist, Bay Area Air Quality Management District. “So it is really important to pay attention to what’s going on, if you see smoke or smell smoke, take efforts to reduce your exposure.”[aside postID=science_1930023,science_1976747,science_1969271 label='Understanding Air Quality']Thursday morning the BAAQMD released \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/compliance-and-enforcement/incident-reports/2023/incidentreport_schnitzersteel_081023-pdf.pdf?la=en&rev=a8df9411b6b44703a050860dd7ac5678\">an incident report (PDF)\u003c/a> stating that the “large dense gray smoke plume” traveled south and east during the night, reaching as far as Milpitas, but had then shifted and pushed north.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Fire Department officials reported that it took nearly four hours to get the fire fully under control Wednesday night. But as of Thursday morning, it still had not been completely extinguished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most impacted areas were immediately downwind of the fire. So that was East Oakland, West Oakland and other areas along the I-80 corridor, which are historically overburdened communities that kind of experience a disproportionate impact and exposure to poor air pollution already,” said Flagg. He said smoke reached Moraga, Dublin and San Ramon, but then with a shift in wind it moved north all the way up to Martinez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents near the Port of Oakland were originally advised on Wednesday to avoid the area around Jack London Square and to keep windows closed. By Thursday, impacts were expected to lessen but continue in parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you smell smoke, or you know that there’s high concentrations, our recommendation is to reduce your exposure, to stay inside, close your windows, air filtration, things like that, but mostly just to monitor the situation closely and pay attention to \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AirDistrict\">district advisories\u003c/a>,” said Flagg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, while the air district issued an advisory, it is not forecasting an exceedance of the national air quality health standards and is not issuing a more severe Spare the Air Alert. You can see the most recent air quality data at \u003ca href=\"https://fire.airnow.gov/\">fire.airnow.gov\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Air District staff will continue to investigate this incident to determine if there were any violations of air quality regulations,” the advisory statement said. The Oakland Fire Department also \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/news/2023/update-on-fire-incident-at-schnitzer-steel-radius-recycling\">said\u003c/a> their hazardous materials team and EPA representatives were on the site Wednesday night to administer tests and evaluate the situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schnitzer Steel — \u003ca href=\"https://www.radiusrecycling.com/company/investors/news-release-details/22391\">which recently rebranded itself as Radius Recycling\u003c/a> — is a large scrap metal processing plant near the Port of Oakland that shreds cars and other large appliances. The fire started in a scrap metal pile. The cause is currently under investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An initial response from fire crews contained the fire to a single debris pile, but it continued to grow rapidly, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OaklandFireCA/status/1689500888061382656\">according to Oakland Fire Chief Damon Covington\u003c/a>. Ultimately it required three engines, two fireboats from San Francisco and Alameda, and over 20 firefighters to get the fire under control. There were no injuries reported. However, because of the size of the debris pile, firefighters were unable to reach the origin of the fire and relied on Schnitzer cranes to pull apart the large debris pile.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Until we can get all the way into the pile and put the fire out, we’re going to be out here for awhile,” Covington said late Wednesday night.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/OaklandFireCA/status/1689500888061382656\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/news/2023/update-on-fire-incident-at-schnitzer-steel-radius-recycling\">update\u003c/a> from Oakland Fire Department on Thursday said there was still a large amount of debris to untangle and crews continue to spray water on the pile to prevent any small fires that ignite from spreading. It is not uncommon for these kinds of large debris fires to smolder for some time, said officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The company is grateful for the first responders who brought this situation to a safe conclusion,” said Tasion Kwamilele, public affairs manager for Schnitzer Steel/Radius Recycling.[aside postID=news_11832073 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2020/08/Schnitzer_Steel-1020x744.jpg']This \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/schnitzer-steel-environmental-violations-oakland-scrap-yard-fire/\">isn’t the first time\u003c/a> the Schnitzer Steel recycling yard has caught fire. There were previous large fires in 2018, 2010 and 2009. In 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11832073/as-file-suit-against-state-agency-to-regulate-steel-recycler\">the Oakland A’s also sued\u003c/a> to have the waste materials created by the plant reclassified as hazardous. At the time, the A’s suit said there had been five smaller fires since 2018. (The A’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/State-Supreme-Court-rejects-Oakland-A-s-legal-17726660.php\">lost the suit\u003c/a> earlier this year on appeal to the California Supreme Court.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, Schnitzer also \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-announces-41-million-settlement-schnitzer-steel\">paid $4.1 million\u003c/a> as part of a settlement over “the release of toxic air contaminants and hazardous particulates” in West Oakland and across the Oakland estuary. The settlement with the state Department of Justice, at the time, reported that investigations by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control found that Schnitzer was releasing particulate matter contaminated with hazardous metals — such as lead, cadmium and zinc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Bay City News and KQED’s Giuliana Salomone contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"headline": "Smelly Smoke From Oakland Metal Recycler Fire Prompts Health Concerns",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A large fire that broke out at the Schnitzer Steel recycling yard in West Oakland around 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday sent huge plumes of stinky smoke across the East Bay and has prompted ongoing concerns about potential air quality risks from the burning aluminum, tin, steel and iron that were present in the large scrap metal pile where officials said the fire began.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“With fires like this, the material that’s burning, the smoke contains more things in the particulate matter. It also likely has other toxic air contaminants, including metals and volatile organic compounds,” said Michael Flagg, principal air quality specialist, Bay Area Air Quality Management District. “So it is really important to pay attention to what’s going on, if you see smoke or smell smoke, take efforts to reduce your exposure.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Thursday morning the BAAQMD released \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/compliance-and-enforcement/incident-reports/2023/incidentreport_schnitzersteel_081023-pdf.pdf?la=en&rev=a8df9411b6b44703a050860dd7ac5678\">an incident report (PDF)\u003c/a> stating that the “large dense gray smoke plume” traveled south and east during the night, reaching as far as Milpitas, but had then shifted and pushed north.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Fire Department officials reported that it took nearly four hours to get the fire fully under control Wednesday night. But as of Thursday morning, it still had not been completely extinguished.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The most impacted areas were immediately downwind of the fire. So that was East Oakland, West Oakland and other areas along the I-80 corridor, which are historically overburdened communities that kind of experience a disproportionate impact and exposure to poor air pollution already,” said Flagg. He said smoke reached Moraga, Dublin and San Ramon, but then with a shift in wind it moved north all the way up to Martinez.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents near the Port of Oakland were originally advised on Wednesday to avoid the area around Jack London Square and to keep windows closed. By Thursday, impacts were expected to lessen but continue in parts of Alameda and Contra Costa counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If you smell smoke, or you know that there’s high concentrations, our recommendation is to reduce your exposure, to stay inside, close your windows, air filtration, things like that, but mostly just to monitor the situation closely and pay attention to \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/AirDistrict\">district advisories\u003c/a>,” said Flagg.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But, while the air district issued an advisory, it is not forecasting an exceedance of the national air quality health standards and is not issuing a more severe Spare the Air Alert. You can see the most recent air quality data at \u003ca href=\"https://fire.airnow.gov/\">fire.airnow.gov\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Air District staff will continue to investigate this incident to determine if there were any violations of air quality regulations,” the advisory statement said. The Oakland Fire Department also \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/news/2023/update-on-fire-incident-at-schnitzer-steel-radius-recycling\">said\u003c/a> their hazardous materials team and EPA representatives were on the site Wednesday night to administer tests and evaluate the situation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schnitzer Steel — \u003ca href=\"https://www.radiusrecycling.com/company/investors/news-release-details/22391\">which recently rebranded itself as Radius Recycling\u003c/a> — is a large scrap metal processing plant near the Port of Oakland that shreds cars and other large appliances. The fire started in a scrap metal pile. The cause is currently under investigation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An initial response from fire crews contained the fire to a single debris pile, but it continued to grow rapidly, \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/OaklandFireCA/status/1689500888061382656\">according to Oakland Fire Chief Damon Covington\u003c/a>. Ultimately it required three engines, two fireboats from San Francisco and Alameda, and over 20 firefighters to get the fire under control. There were no injuries reported. However, because of the size of the debris pile, firefighters were unable to reach the origin of the fire and relied on Schnitzer cranes to pull apart the large debris pile.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Until we can get all the way into the pile and put the fire out, we’re going to be out here for awhile,” Covington said late Wednesday night.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>An \u003ca href=\"https://www.oaklandca.gov/news/2023/update-on-fire-incident-at-schnitzer-steel-radius-recycling\">update\u003c/a> from Oakland Fire Department on Thursday said there was still a large amount of debris to untangle and crews continue to spray water on the pile to prevent any small fires that ignite from spreading. It is not uncommon for these kinds of large debris fires to smolder for some time, said officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The company is grateful for the first responders who brought this situation to a safe conclusion,” said Tasion Kwamilele, public affairs manager for Schnitzer Steel/Radius Recycling.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>This \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/schnitzer-steel-environmental-violations-oakland-scrap-yard-fire/\">isn’t the first time\u003c/a> the Schnitzer Steel recycling yard has caught fire. There were previous large fires in 2018, 2010 and 2009. In 2020, \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11832073/as-file-suit-against-state-agency-to-regulate-steel-recycler\">the Oakland A’s also sued\u003c/a> to have the waste materials created by the plant reclassified as hazardous. At the time, the A’s suit said there had been five smaller fires since 2018. (The A’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/State-Supreme-Court-rejects-Oakland-A-s-legal-17726660.php\">lost the suit\u003c/a> earlier this year on appeal to the California Supreme Court.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2021, Schnitzer also \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-becerra-announces-41-million-settlement-schnitzer-steel\">paid $4.1 million\u003c/a> as part of a settlement over “the release of toxic air contaminants and hazardous particulates” in West Oakland and across the Oakland estuary. The settlement with the state Department of Justice, at the time, reported that investigations by the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office and the California Department of Toxic Substances Control found that Schnitzer was releasing particulate matter contaminated with hazardous metals — such as lead, cadmium and zinc.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Bay City News and KQED’s Giuliana Salomone contributed to this report. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "Bay Area Regulators Approve Rules to Phase Out Gas Furnaces and Water Heaters",
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"content": "\u003cp>Bay Area regulators on Wednesday approved landmark rules to begin phasing out and eventually banning the sale of new natural gas water heaters and furnaces in most of the nine-county region as part of a concerted effort to reduce air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"science_1981511,news_11935585,news_11938934\"]Under \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/dotgov/files/rules/reg-9-rule-4-nitrogen-oxides-from-fan-type-residential-central-furnaces/2021-amendments/documents/20230127_factsheet_rg09040906-pdf.pdf?la=en\">the ambitious timeline (PDF)\u003c/a> established by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, only zero-emission, electric water heaters can be sold or installed in Bay Area homes or businesses starting in 2027. The same goes for furnaces starting in 2029, and large commercial water heaters in 2031.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The 1.8 million water heaters and furnaces in the Bay Area significantly impact our air quality, resulting in dozens of early deaths and a wide range of health impacts, particularly in communities of color,\" \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/communications-and-outreach/publications/news-releases/2023/barules_230315_2023_003-pdf.pdf?la=en\">Philip Fine, executive officer of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said in a statement (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials emphasized the rules only apply to new water heaters and furnace purchases, and won't require the immediate replacement of existing appliances. People can also still repair their broken-down gas appliances, but won't be able to purchase new ones after the rules go into effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rules also have no bearing on gas stoves, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gas-stoves-igniting-a-new-range-war/\">an issue that has become a national political flashpoint\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the air board's move has sweeping implications for the roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/dotgov/files/rules/reg-9-rule-4-nitrogen-oxides-from-fan-type-residential-central-furnaces/2021-amendments/documents/20230127_factsheet_rg09040906-pdf.pdf?la=en\">two-thirds of households in the Bay Area that still rely on natural gas appliances (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gas appliances in residential and commercial buildings in the region account for a similar amount of harmful nitrogen oxide — or NOx — emissions as passenger vehicles, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NOx emissions contribute to the formation of ozone and smog, and exposure has been linked to asthma and other respiratory conditions, along with increased risk of heart attack, stroke, lung cancer and premature death, officials said. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Philip Fine, executive officer, Bay Area Air Quality Management District\"]'This groundbreaking regulation will phase out the most polluting appliances in homes and businesses to protect Bay Area residents from the harmful air pollution they cause.'[/pullquote]\"While we're talking about two basic appliances that many of us take for granted in our homes, they have tremendous implications not only from an emissions perspective, but also from a public health perspective,\" said Fernando Gaytan, attorney with environmental group Earthjustice, which advocated for the new rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move comes less than a year after \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2022-09-23/california-moves-to-ban-natural-gas-furnaces-and-heaters-by-2030\">California regulators voted to ban the sale of new gas furnaces and water heaters\u003c/a> beginning in 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://twitter.com/AirDistrict/status/1636130138932019201\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency said the new rules will dramatically improve regional air quality, estimating it will avoid roughly $890 million in health impacts per year, and about 85 premature deaths, from poor air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This groundbreaking regulation will phase out the most polluting appliances in homes and businesses to protect Bay Area residents from the harmful air pollution they cause,\" Fine said in the statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 100 public commenters, many voicing support for the new rules, spoke in rapid succession at Wednesday's hearing, including public health experts, renters and a group of eighth-grade students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I’m here because I have an 18-month-old grandson who's already using an inhaler,\" East Bay resident Bill Olson told the air board. \"These rules are future looking. ... I urge the board to help my grandson and all young people.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency said it hopes to implement the rules equitably and cost-efficiently, noting residents' concerns about the steep cost of buying and installing new electric appliances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/board-of-directors/2023/bod_presentation_031523_op-pdf.pdf?la=en&rev=d6dcb3bb2c0245859db97c5b880006e7\">A new, zero-NOx electric heater will cost roughly $8,030 (PDF)\u003c/a>, according to air district estimates released Wednesday. An electrical panel upgrade, if necessary, adds another $2,630 to the total price tag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a zero-NOx electric water heater costs about $2,820, plus roughly $960 for any needed panel upgrade, the agency estimates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/inflation-reduction-act-residential-energy-rebate-programs-california\">rebates for home energy-efficiency and electrification projects are currently available\u003c/a> through the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress last summer, and will increase significantly in 2024, according to the California Energy Commission. They include an \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-01-27/looking-for-inflation-reduction-act-rebates-to-go-green-get-ready-to-wait\">$8,000 rebate for heat pumps that can warm and cool homes, $1,750 for heat pump water heaters and $4,000 for electrical system upgrades\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED's Anna Marie Yanny and Laura Klivans contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Under \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/dotgov/files/rules/reg-9-rule-4-nitrogen-oxides-from-fan-type-residential-central-furnaces/2021-amendments/documents/20230127_factsheet_rg09040906-pdf.pdf?la=en\">the ambitious timeline (PDF)\u003c/a> established by the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, only zero-emission, electric water heaters can be sold or installed in Bay Area homes or businesses starting in 2027. The same goes for furnaces starting in 2029, and large commercial water heaters in 2031.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The 1.8 million water heaters and furnaces in the Bay Area significantly impact our air quality, resulting in dozens of early deaths and a wide range of health impacts, particularly in communities of color,\" \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/communications-and-outreach/publications/news-releases/2023/barules_230315_2023_003-pdf.pdf?la=en\">Philip Fine, executive officer of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, said in a statement (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Officials emphasized the rules only apply to new water heaters and furnace purchases, and won't require the immediate replacement of existing appliances. People can also still repair their broken-down gas appliances, but won't be able to purchase new ones after the rules go into effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The rules also have no bearing on gas stoves, \u003ca href=\"https://www.cbsnews.com/news/gas-stoves-igniting-a-new-range-war/\">an issue that has become a national political flashpoint\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, the air board's move has sweeping implications for the roughly \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/dotgov/files/rules/reg-9-rule-4-nitrogen-oxides-from-fan-type-residential-central-furnaces/2021-amendments/documents/20230127_factsheet_rg09040906-pdf.pdf?la=en\">two-thirds of households in the Bay Area that still rely on natural gas appliances (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gas appliances in residential and commercial buildings in the region account for a similar amount of harmful nitrogen oxide — or NOx — emissions as passenger vehicles, officials said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>NOx emissions contribute to the formation of ozone and smog, and exposure has been linked to asthma and other respiratory conditions, along with increased risk of heart attack, stroke, lung cancer and premature death, officials said. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\n\u003cp>The agency said the new rules will dramatically improve regional air quality, estimating it will avoid roughly $890 million in health impacts per year, and about 85 premature deaths, from poor air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This groundbreaking regulation will phase out the most polluting appliances in homes and businesses to protect Bay Area residents from the harmful air pollution they cause,\" Fine said in the statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 100 public commenters, many voicing support for the new rules, spoke in rapid succession at Wednesday's hearing, including public health experts, renters and a group of eighth-grade students.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I’m here because I have an 18-month-old grandson who's already using an inhaler,\" East Bay resident Bill Olson told the air board. \"These rules are future looking. ... I urge the board to help my grandson and all young people.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency said it hopes to implement the rules equitably and cost-efficiently, noting residents' concerns about the steep cost of buying and installing new electric appliances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/board-of-directors/2023/bod_presentation_031523_op-pdf.pdf?la=en&rev=d6dcb3bb2c0245859db97c5b880006e7\">A new, zero-NOx electric heater will cost roughly $8,030 (PDF)\u003c/a>, according to air district estimates released Wednesday. An electrical panel upgrade, if necessary, adds another $2,630 to the total price tag.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, a zero-NOx electric water heater costs about $2,820, plus roughly $960 for any needed panel upgrade, the agency estimates.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But some \u003ca href=\"https://www.energy.ca.gov/programs-and-topics/programs/inflation-reduction-act-residential-energy-rebate-programs-california\">rebates for home energy-efficiency and electrification projects are currently available\u003c/a> through the Inflation Reduction Act passed by Congress last summer, and will increase significantly in 2024, according to the California Energy Commission. They include an \u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2023-01-27/looking-for-inflation-reduction-act-rebates-to-go-green-get-ready-to-wait\">$8,000 rebate for heat pumps that can warm and cool homes, $1,750 for heat pump water heaters and $4,000 for electrical system upgrades\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED's Anna Marie Yanny and Laura Klivans contributed reporting to this story.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 10:30 a.m. Monday (Jan. 30, 2023):\u003c/strong> Damian Breen, a senior official at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, retired from his position effective Jan. 13, according to an agency representative. The announcement comes after Breen, who worked for the district for 24 years, was accused of uttering a racist, sexist slur during a confrontation with a security guard at the agency's headquarters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veronica Eady, the district's senior deputy executive officer of policy and equity, is now overseeing operations and enforcement duties, the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story, Dec. 6, 2022:\u003c/strong> One of the top officials at the agency that regulates Bay Area pollution is on paid leave after he allegedly used a racist, sexist slur in a confrontation with a security official at the district’s headquarters in early October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Damian Breen, senior deputy executive officer of operations at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, told the official during a brief exchange Oct. 5, “I don’t have time for this, you Black b----,\" according to documents obtained by KQED through a California Public Records Act request.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days after the alleged incident involving Breen, who is white, and the security employee, who is Black, an air district representative confirmed he was on leave. The agency has declined to provide more information, citing policy not to comment on personnel matters except to confirm employment status. In response, KQED filed the records request, and has since learned details of the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The episode involving Breen, \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/about-the-air-district/air-district-leadership\">whom the district lists among its half-dozen top executives\u003c/a>, comes after a series of changes in the agency's senior leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent months, the air district fired Jeff McKay, its chief financial officer. Along with Breen, the agency’s chief administrative officer, Rex Sanders, is currently on leave. Jack Broadbent, the district’s long-time executive officer, retired in June. Last year Brian Bunger, the agency's top lawyer for more than 20 years, also retired, leaving the agency in January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breen played a leading role in two of the agency’s higher-profile pollution enforcement actions this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January the air district disclosed that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11905065/first-i-had-heard-of-it-valeros-benicia-refinery-secretly-released-toxic-chemicals-for-years\">Valero’s Benicia refinery released excessive levels of hazardous chemicals\u003c/a> for more than 15 years before the agency discovered the emissions. Breen was the agency’s main voice when it disclosed the releases to the public. He also apologized to Benicia city officials, who were upset it took the agency three years to tell them about the emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April, the district moved to shut down a set of giant diesel generators that had been used for more than a year and a half to power a major cannabis growing facility in East Oakland, known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911263/regulator-moves-to-shut-down-diesel-generators-at-east-oakland-cannabis-facility\">Green Sage\u003c/a>. Breen was quoted multiple times in news stories and the agency’s press release about its enforcement actions against the company.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11932420,news_11928625,news_11920452\"]The alleged October incident involving Breen was recounted in several documents released in response to KQED's records request. The Oct. 5 encounter, which lasted about 20 seconds, was captured on a building security camera. The video, also obtained through a records request, does not include audio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The documents include brief incident reports from the security firm serving the \u003ca href=\"https://mtc.ca.gov/about-mtc/authorities/bay-area-headquarters-authority/bay-area-metro-center\">Bay Area Metro Center\u003c/a>, a Beale Street building that houses the air district and several other regional agencies, and emails from Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate company that manages the center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those accounts say Breen and an unidentified woman were walking through a security checkpoint at around 3 p.m. on Oct. 5 when a security guard asked the woman for her badge. Breen showed the guard his badge and told the officer, “She’s with me.” The two then continued down a hallway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The security director noticed the interaction and told the unidentified woman she had to check in with security on the first floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And who the hell are you to tell me anything?” Breen asked, according to the director’s email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I stated to him that I am the security director, and your visitor must check in with security if you would like to show her around the building,” the unidentified director wrote, adding that the woman with Breen said she would leave and started walking away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I asked the employee his name and he stated ‘I don’t have time for this you black bitch’ as he was walking to badge his badge on the Harrison garage door leading out near FasTrak hallway,” the email states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Damien [sic] was exceptionally rude,” one incident report said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hours later, a Cushman & Wakefield employee emailed facilities staff about the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had an incident a little while ago with an BAAQMD employee Damien [sic] Breen,” the email said. The incident was also referred to the air district’s head of human resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental justice advocates have long pressured the air district to do more to fight environmental racism and support Bay Area communities of color that have been disproportionately affected by pollution. The district has adopted a resolution supporting racial justice and established an \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/about-the-air-district/diversity-equity-and-inclusion\">Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion \u003c/a>that says the air district is committed to “zero tolerance of all forms of discrimination and harassment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breen could not be reached for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email, an air district representative declined to answer several questions about the incident involving him and the causes for changes in agency leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All personnel matters are confidential,” said spokesperson Kristine Roselius, adding that the district would not make any staff members, including Breen, available for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The air district’s commitment to public health, air quality, the global climate and the vigorous enforcement of all air quality regulations continues unabated,” Roselius said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency is getting close to the end of its recruitment process for a new executive officer. The district’s board is expected to interview the final candidates for the position in closed session on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the company that employs the unidentified security official who was the focus of Breen’s alleged actions, Allied Universal, praised her in a statement emailed by Kari Garcia, the firm’s director of public affairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Allied Universal commends our employee’s actions. Our security professionals go through extensive training in dealing with a wide range of situations including de-escalation training,” the statement read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca id=\"correction\">\u003c/a>Correction: This story has been revised to correct attribution to the reports that recount the Oct. 5, 2022, incident at the Bay Area Metro Center building in San Francisco. In addition, the name of a property management employee who played only an incidental role in the episode has been removed.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Update, 10:30 a.m. Monday (Jan. 30, 2023):\u003c/strong> Damian Breen, a senior official at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, retired from his position effective Jan. 13, according to an agency representative. The announcement comes after Breen, who worked for the district for 24 years, was accused of uttering a racist, sexist slur during a confrontation with a security guard at the agency's headquarters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Veronica Eady, the district's senior deputy executive officer of policy and equity, is now overseeing operations and enforcement duties, the agency said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original story, Dec. 6, 2022:\u003c/strong> One of the top officials at the agency that regulates Bay Area pollution is on paid leave after he allegedly used a racist, sexist slur in a confrontation with a security official at the district’s headquarters in early October.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Damian Breen, senior deputy executive officer of operations at the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, told the official during a brief exchange Oct. 5, “I don’t have time for this, you Black b----,\" according to documents obtained by KQED through a California Public Records Act request.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Days after the alleged incident involving Breen, who is white, and the security employee, who is Black, an air district representative confirmed he was on leave. The agency has declined to provide more information, citing policy not to comment on personnel matters except to confirm employment status. In response, KQED filed the records request, and has since learned details of the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The episode involving Breen, \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/about-the-air-district/air-district-leadership\">whom the district lists among its half-dozen top executives\u003c/a>, comes after a series of changes in the agency's senior leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In recent months, the air district fired Jeff McKay, its chief financial officer. Along with Breen, the agency’s chief administrative officer, Rex Sanders, is currently on leave. Jack Broadbent, the district’s long-time executive officer, retired in June. Last year Brian Bunger, the agency's top lawyer for more than 20 years, also retired, leaving the agency in January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breen played a leading role in two of the agency’s higher-profile pollution enforcement actions this year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In January the air district disclosed that \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11905065/first-i-had-heard-of-it-valeros-benicia-refinery-secretly-released-toxic-chemicals-for-years\">Valero’s Benicia refinery released excessive levels of hazardous chemicals\u003c/a> for more than 15 years before the agency discovered the emissions. Breen was the agency’s main voice when it disclosed the releases to the public. He also apologized to Benicia city officials, who were upset it took the agency three years to tell them about the emissions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April, the district moved to shut down a set of giant diesel generators that had been used for more than a year and a half to power a major cannabis growing facility in East Oakland, known as \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911263/regulator-moves-to-shut-down-diesel-generators-at-east-oakland-cannabis-facility\">Green Sage\u003c/a>. Breen was quoted multiple times in news stories and the agency’s press release about its enforcement actions against the company.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The alleged October incident involving Breen was recounted in several documents released in response to KQED's records request. The Oct. 5 encounter, which lasted about 20 seconds, was captured on a building security camera. The video, also obtained through a records request, does not include audio.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The documents include brief incident reports from the security firm serving the \u003ca href=\"https://mtc.ca.gov/about-mtc/authorities/bay-area-headquarters-authority/bay-area-metro-center\">Bay Area Metro Center\u003c/a>, a Beale Street building that houses the air district and several other regional agencies, and emails from Cushman & Wakefield, the real estate company that manages the center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those accounts say Breen and an unidentified woman were walking through a security checkpoint at around 3 p.m. on Oct. 5 when a security guard asked the woman for her badge. Breen showed the guard his badge and told the officer, “She’s with me.” The two then continued down a hallway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The security director noticed the interaction and told the unidentified woman she had to check in with security on the first floor.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And who the hell are you to tell me anything?” Breen asked, according to the director’s email.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I stated to him that I am the security director, and your visitor must check in with security if you would like to show her around the building,” the unidentified director wrote, adding that the woman with Breen said she would leave and started walking away.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I asked the employee his name and he stated ‘I don’t have time for this you black bitch’ as he was walking to badge his badge on the Harrison garage door leading out near FasTrak hallway,” the email states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Damien [sic] was exceptionally rude,” one incident report said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hours later, a Cushman & Wakefield employee emailed facilities staff about the incident.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had an incident a little while ago with an BAAQMD employee Damien [sic] Breen,” the email said. The incident was also referred to the air district’s head of human resources.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmental justice advocates have long pressured the air district to do more to fight environmental racism and support Bay Area communities of color that have been disproportionately affected by pollution. The district has adopted a resolution supporting racial justice and established an \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/about-the-air-district/diversity-equity-and-inclusion\">Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion \u003c/a>that says the air district is committed to “zero tolerance of all forms of discrimination and harassment.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breen could not be reached for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email, an air district representative declined to answer several questions about the incident involving him and the causes for changes in agency leadership.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“All personnel matters are confidential,” said spokesperson Kristine Roselius, adding that the district would not make any staff members, including Breen, available for an interview.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The air district’s commitment to public health, air quality, the global climate and the vigorous enforcement of all air quality regulations continues unabated,” Roselius said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The agency is getting close to the end of its recruitment process for a new executive officer. The district’s board is expected to interview the final candidates for the position in closed session on Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the company that employs the unidentified security official who was the focus of Breen’s alleged actions, Allied Universal, praised her in a statement emailed by Kari Garcia, the firm’s director of public affairs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Allied Universal commends our employee’s actions. Our security professionals go through extensive training in dealing with a wide range of situations including de-escalation training,” the statement read.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca id=\"correction\">\u003c/a>Correction: This story has been revised to correct attribution to the reports that recount the Oct. 5, 2022, incident at the Bay Area Metro Center building in San Francisco. In addition, the name of a property management employee who played only an incidental role in the episode has been removed.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "A Cannabis Landlord in East Oakland Seeks to Overturn Order to Shut Down Diesel Generators",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3 p.m. Friday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regional air regulators are locked in a court dispute with an Oakland cannabis landlord that has been running massive diesel generators without permits for nearly two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) filed an \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22123043/baaqmd-v-green-sage-management-et-al.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">injunction request\u003c/a> late Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court seeking enforcement of an abatement order issued against Denver-based firm Green Sage last week by the agency's independent hearing board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to seeking an injunction against Green Sage, the district is seeking penalties of up to $175,000 a day for continued violations of the abatement order and state air pollution laws. The district's legal action also targets cannabis growers in the Green Sage complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district's action came hours after Green Sage \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22123601/green-sage-request-for-writ-of-mandate-220728.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">asked the court\u003c/a> to block the abatement order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company argued the generators are necessary because existing PG&E power supplies are insufficient to power cannabis growth at its properties and claims that pot worth millions of dollars will be lost if they're turned off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district hearing board issued \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22122163/2022-07-21-order-for-abatement.pdf\">its formal order\u003c/a> last week directing Green Sage to immediately cease operating generators at its two San Leandro Street buildings until it gets air district permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district had already indicated that Green Sage was likely ineligible for such permits. That's because the firm has used the diesel generators as the primary source of power for nearly two years in violation of air district rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Oakland residents, Center for Environmental Health, Environmental Democracy Project\"]'We've spent hundreds of hours on the board's abatement process because Green Sage's conduct is so obviously at odds with the district's regulations.'[/pullquote]Green Sage began leasing generators to provide power for cannabis tenants beginning in October 2020. At one point, \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22076676/mills-report-green-sage-generators.pdf\">an expert for the air district found\u003c/a>, the firm had a dozen generators running simultaneously, producing 11.1 megawatts of electricity – enough to power about 9,000 California homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green Sage residential tenants first complained to the air district about the generators last September, saying they're beyond frustrated with the engines' continued around-the-clock operation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11918216,news_11911263,news_11908979\" label=\"Related Posts\"]In \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22122200/residents-letter-to-baaqmd-green-sage-enforcement.pdf\">a letter to the air district\u003c/a> joined by environmental advocates and community supporters, they said they were disillusioned with the district's hearing process and demanded immediate enforcement of its order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We placed faith in this system and were extremely patient,\" the joint letter from residents, the \u003ca href=\"https://ceh.org/\">Center for Environmental Health\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.edpcal.org/\">Environmental Democracy Project\u003c/a> said. \"We’ve spent hundreds of hours on the board’s abatement process because Green Sage’s conduct is so obviously at odds with the district’s regulations. After all that investment of our time, it seems that we were misled into believing that the district would actually shut the generators down.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The letter complained that \"Green Sage has been afforded every opportunity to appeal, delay, and ignore the law without consequence.\"\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In response, the air district issued a statement calling Green Sage's continued generator use \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\"alarming and unacceptable.\" The district said it \"will deploy all our available tools and work with other enforcement agencies to hold Green Sage accountable and shut down these generators, which are a threat to air quality and public health in the surrounding community.\"\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The air district's hearing board process gives Green Sage 30 days to appeal last week's abatement order. The company would also need to seek a separate court order to delay enforcement of the air district's shutdown decree.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Green Sage, which has failed to comply with at least three other city and air district violation notices related to the diesel generators since late last year, did not respond to questions this week about whether it will contest the abatement order. Prior to filing Thursday's injunction request, air district officials said they had not received notice that Green Sage would appeal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Testifying before the hearing board on July 12, Green Sage Managing Director Ken Greer argued the generators are necessary to preserve cannabis crops worth millions of dollars.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Greer also said that PG&E power upgrades will be complete for one of the two Green Sage buildings by the end of September and asked the board to hold off on an abatement order until that work is complete. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But he maintained that even with the PG&E upgrade in place, more power will be needed to keep cannabis operations running. He said that could be supplied by a company he's formed, New Grass Power, which would generate electricity using natural gas turbines fueled by methane from dairy waste. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\"We're desperately trying to get off the diesel generators,\" Greer told the hearing board. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\"We can't afford them. We don't want them. But we have no other alternative.\" \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11920839\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11920839\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-800x518.jpg\" alt=\"Ken Greer of Green Sage testifying before air district hearing board via Zoom. \" width=\"800\" height=\"518\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-800x518.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-1020x660.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-160x104.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-1536x994.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-2048x1325.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-1920x1242.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Green Sage Managing Director Ken Greer testifying before the Bay Area Air Quality Management District hearing board on July 12, 2022. \u003ccite>(BAAQMD)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evidence produced during the hearing board's three sessions showed Green Sage began relying on generators as an ongoing source of supplemental power nearly two years ago, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21423328/americas-brickworks-v-220111-greer-declaration.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a January 2022 court filing by Greer\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> indicated that supplying diesel generators for cannabis operations had become Green Sage's standard operating procedure. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The city of Oakland issued notices of violation last December and again in April warning Green Sage that the unpermitted generators must be shut down. The April notice is under appeal, and the generators continued to run. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The air district issued its own notice of violation in February because the generators had been set up and operated without district permits. After Green Sage filed only incomplete permit applications, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911263/regulator-moves-to-shut-down-diesel-generators-at-east-oakland-cannabis-facility\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the district issued a formal \"accusation\" in April\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> charging Green Sage with violating generator regulations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That accusation led to the hearing board, which met for three days to consider the case, and its subsequent abatement order. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tanya Boyce, a longtime East Oakland resident, former city of Oakland planner and executive director of the Environmental Democracy Project, which is suing Green Sage, said this week she's infuriated that the enforcement process has taken so long and produced such a lack of results. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\"This is total and complete fuckery,\" Boyce said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In her hearing board appearance earlier this month, Boyce testified about recently produced city data that show the neighborhoods most likely to be affected by fallout from Green Sage's generators are also those that already suffer Oakland's highest levels of air pollution.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says she sees a connection to fallout from another crisis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\"This ultra-deference for the environmental criminal is absolutely insulting to Black and brown communities that have been completely devastated by the war on drugs,\" Boyce said. \"I know a lot of street drug dealers. Imagine how different the world would be if they were given the same respect as Green Sage. Imagine if crack dealers went through such an administrative process with the right to appeal before they stopped selling crack.\"\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://greensagemb.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Green Sage\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> acquired its two East Oakland properties — The Tinnery, at 5601 San Leandro St., and The Cannery, at 5733 San Leandro St., a historic live/work building — in 2016 and 2017. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The firm attracted investors with a vision of converting the two 1930-era buildings into one of California's largest cannabis production facilities. But the project has run into a long series of legal disputes and financial and infrastructural problems. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the past 4 1/2 years, Green Sage has been sued nearly two dozen times in California, Colorado, Virginia and Nevada. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1_F2HesfIuiH2L0dGGbK_j6L9wm8mI0PgZxqc-XPc0/edit?usp=sharing\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Those suits \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">include complaints filed by investors, a former business partner, contractors, a generator rental firm, cannabis tenants and The Cannery's current and former residents. The most recent actions were filed over the past month by environmental groups and tenants alleging the company has violated the federal Clean Air Act and California's \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11918216/environmental-groups-line-up-behind-residents-to-try-to-shut-down-diesel-generators-at-oakland-cannabis-facility\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Proposition 65 toxics law\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Green Sage defaulted on its $54.5 million mortgage last year and faces a possible foreclosure auction on Aug. 3.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"excerpt": "The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is locked in a legal dispute with a Denver-based firm that has operated massive generators without permits for nearly two years. ",
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"description": "The Bay Area Air Quality Management District is locked in a legal dispute with a Denver-based firm that has operated massive generators without permits for nearly two years. ",
"title": "A Cannabis Landlord in East Oakland Seeks to Overturn Order to Shut Down Diesel Generators | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated 3 p.m. Friday\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Regional air regulators are locked in a court dispute with an Oakland cannabis landlord that has been running massive diesel generators without permits for nearly two years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) filed an \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22123043/baaqmd-v-green-sage-management-et-al.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">injunction request\u003c/a> late Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court seeking enforcement of an abatement order issued against Denver-based firm Green Sage last week by the agency's independent hearing board.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to seeking an injunction against Green Sage, the district is seeking penalties of up to $175,000 a day for continued violations of the abatement order and state air pollution laws. The district's legal action also targets cannabis growers in the Green Sage complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district's action came hours after Green Sage \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22123601/green-sage-request-for-writ-of-mandate-220728.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">asked the court\u003c/a> to block the abatement order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company argued the generators are necessary because existing PG&E power supplies are insufficient to power cannabis growth at its properties and claims that pot worth millions of dollars will be lost if they're turned off.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district hearing board issued \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22122163/2022-07-21-order-for-abatement.pdf\">its formal order\u003c/a> last week directing Green Sage to immediately cease operating generators at its two San Leandro Street buildings until it gets air district permits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district had already indicated that Green Sage was likely ineligible for such permits. That's because the firm has used the diesel generators as the primary source of power for nearly two years in violation of air district rules.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "'We've spent hundreds of hours on the board's abatement process because Green Sage's conduct is so obviously at odds with the district's regulations.'",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Green Sage began leasing generators to provide power for cannabis tenants beginning in October 2020. At one point, \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22076676/mills-report-green-sage-generators.pdf\">an expert for the air district found\u003c/a>, the firm had a dozen generators running simultaneously, producing 11.1 megawatts of electricity – enough to power about 9,000 California homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green Sage residential tenants first complained to the air district about the generators last September, saying they're beyond frustrated with the engines' continued around-the-clock operation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22122200/residents-letter-to-baaqmd-green-sage-enforcement.pdf\">a letter to the air district\u003c/a> joined by environmental advocates and community supporters, they said they were disillusioned with the district's hearing process and demanded immediate enforcement of its order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"We placed faith in this system and were extremely patient,\" the joint letter from residents, the \u003ca href=\"https://ceh.org/\">Center for Environmental Health\u003c/a> and the \u003ca href=\"https://www.edpcal.org/\">Environmental Democracy Project\u003c/a> said. \"We’ve spent hundreds of hours on the board’s abatement process because Green Sage’s conduct is so obviously at odds with the district’s regulations. After all that investment of our time, it seems that we were misled into believing that the district would actually shut the generators down.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The letter complained that \"Green Sage has been afforded every opportunity to appeal, delay, and ignore the law without consequence.\"\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In response, the air district issued a statement calling Green Sage's continued generator use \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\"alarming and unacceptable.\" The district said it \"will deploy all our available tools and work with other enforcement agencies to hold Green Sage accountable and shut down these generators, which are a threat to air quality and public health in the surrounding community.\"\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The air district's hearing board process gives Green Sage 30 days to appeal last week's abatement order. The company would also need to seek a separate court order to delay enforcement of the air district's shutdown decree.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Green Sage, which has failed to comply with at least three other city and air district violation notices related to the diesel generators since late last year, did not respond to questions this week about whether it will contest the abatement order. Prior to filing Thursday's injunction request, air district officials said they had not received notice that Green Sage would appeal. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Testifying before the hearing board on July 12, Green Sage Managing Director Ken Greer argued the generators are necessary to preserve cannabis crops worth millions of dollars.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Greer also said that PG&E power upgrades will be complete for one of the two Green Sage buildings by the end of September and asked the board to hold off on an abatement order until that work is complete. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">But he maintained that even with the PG&E upgrade in place, more power will be needed to keep cannabis operations running. He said that could be supplied by a company he's formed, New Grass Power, which would generate electricity using natural gas turbines fueled by methane from dairy waste. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\"We're desperately trying to get off the diesel generators,\" Greer told the hearing board. \u003c/span>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\"We can't afford them. We don't want them. But we have no other alternative.\" \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11920839\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-scaled.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11920839\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-800x518.jpg\" alt=\"Ken Greer of Green Sage testifying before air district hearing board via Zoom. \" width=\"800\" height=\"518\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-800x518.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-1020x660.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-160x104.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-1536x994.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-2048x1325.jpg 2048w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/07/greer220712-1920x1242.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Green Sage Managing Director Ken Greer testifying before the Bay Area Air Quality Management District hearing board on July 12, 2022. \u003ccite>(BAAQMD)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Evidence produced during the hearing board's three sessions showed Green Sage began relying on generators as an ongoing source of supplemental power nearly two years ago, and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21423328/americas-brickworks-v-220111-greer-declaration.pdf\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">a January 2022 court filing by Greer\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> indicated that supplying diesel generators for cannabis operations had become Green Sage's standard operating procedure. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The city of Oakland issued notices of violation last December and again in April warning Green Sage that the unpermitted generators must be shut down. The April notice is under appeal, and the generators continued to run. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The air district issued its own notice of violation in February because the generators had been set up and operated without district permits. After Green Sage filed only incomplete permit applications, \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11911263/regulator-moves-to-shut-down-diesel-generators-at-east-oakland-cannabis-facility\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">the district issued a formal \"accusation\" in April\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> charging Green Sage with violating generator regulations. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">That accusation led to the hearing board, which met for three days to consider the case, and its subsequent abatement order. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tanya Boyce, a longtime East Oakland resident, former city of Oakland planner and executive director of the Environmental Democracy Project, which is suing Green Sage, said this week she's infuriated that the enforcement process has taken so long and produced such a lack of results. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\"This is total and complete fuckery,\" Boyce said.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">In her hearing board appearance earlier this month, Boyce testified about recently produced city data that show the neighborhoods most likely to be affected by fallout from Green Sage's generators are also those that already suffer Oakland's highest levels of air pollution.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">She says she sees a connection to fallout from another crisis.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\"This ultra-deference for the environmental criminal is absolutely insulting to Black and brown communities that have been completely devastated by the war on drugs,\" Boyce said. \"I know a lot of street drug dealers. Imagine how different the world would be if they were given the same respect as Green Sage. Imagine if crack dealers went through such an administrative process with the right to appeal before they stopped selling crack.\"\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://greensagemb.com/\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Green Sage\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\"> acquired its two East Oakland properties — The Tinnery, at 5601 San Leandro St., and The Cannery, at 5733 San Leandro St., a historic live/work building — in 2016 and 2017. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">The firm attracted investors with a vision of converting the two 1930-era buildings into one of California's largest cannabis production facilities. But the project has run into a long series of legal disputes and financial and infrastructural problems. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Over the past 4 1/2 years, Green Sage has been sued nearly two dozen times in California, Colorado, Virginia and Nevada. \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1_F2HesfIuiH2L0dGGbK_j6L9wm8mI0PgZxqc-XPc0/edit?usp=sharing\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Those suits \u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">include complaints filed by investors, a former business partner, contractors, a generator rental firm, cannabis tenants and The Cannery's current and former residents. The most recent actions were filed over the past month by environmental groups and tenants alleging the company has violated the federal Clean Air Act and California's \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11918216/environmental-groups-line-up-behind-residents-to-try-to-shut-down-diesel-generators-at-oakland-cannabis-facility\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Proposition 65 toxics law\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Green Sage defaulted on its $54.5 million mortgage last year and faces a possible foreclosure auction on Aug. 3.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Environmental Groups Line Up Behind Residents to Try to Shut Down Diesel Generators at Oakland Cannabis Facility",
"title": "Environmental Groups Line Up Behind Residents to Try to Shut Down Diesel Generators at Oakland Cannabis Facility",
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"content": "\u003cp>The owners of a massive East Oakland cannabis facility are facing the latest in a series of enforcement actions intended to halt the use of pollution-spewing diesel generators to provide power to the complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents in one of the buildings owned by Denver-based Green Sage teamed with a pair of Oakland environmental groups to use Proposition 65, the state's landmark toxics enforcement law, to get the semi-trailer-sized generators shut down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move comes nearly two years after Green Sage began relying on diesel generators to power its two big San Leandro Street buildings — and after a long series of thus far unsuccessful attempts by city agencies and regional air regulators to stop the firm's unpermitted use of the heavily polluting machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland-based Center for Environmental Health and the recently formed Environmental Democracy Project, along with residents of a building where the generators began running in July 2020, filed \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22070993/green-sage-prop-65-notice-220627.pdf\">a Proposition 65 notice of violation\u003c/a> on Monday against Denver-based cannabis landlord Green Sage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Tanya Boyce, executive director, Environmental Democracy Project\"]'I know from personal experience that ... East Oakland gets under-regulated based on the fact that they don't think anybody out here is going to speak up.'[/pullquote]The notice alleges the company has failed to provide Prop. 65 warnings about the health dangers, including cancer, posed by exposure to diesel exhaust. Green Sage has operated as many as nine of the unpermitted semi-trailer-sized generators around the clock outside its San Leandro Street buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Just to the east of the generators, where the wind carries the pollution, is a very dense residential neighborhood, a community of color,\" said Lucas Williams, an attorney representing the environmental groups and building residents. \"There's schools, playgrounds, and people live there. So not surprisingly the elevated cancer risk is very significant.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The notice, accompanied by a confidential scientific report on the generators' effects on residents' health to the California attorney general's office, is the first step in a process that could lead to state enforcement action or a private lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If found in violation of the toxics law, Green Sage could face retroactive penalties of as much as $2,500 a day. That could mean a total penalty of nearly $2 million if assessed back to July 2020, when the first generator was deployed at the Green Sage properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The generators have prompted the city of Oakland to issue at least three separate notices of violation over the past year. \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22073692-green-sage-oakland-nov-220407\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A notice sent to Green Sage in early April\u003c/a> warned the company it must halt use of the diesel engines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following up on public complaints last September, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a notice of violation against Green Sage in February and is currently seeking an order to have the generators shut down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The generators continue to run as Green Sage appeals the city order and seeks to delay the air district's enforcement action. The company has said the generators are necessary because electricity demands at its facilities have exceeded PG&E's local power capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alistair Monroe, a resident of one of the Green Sage-owned buildings, The Cannery, said that given the city's failure to get the generators shut down, filing the Proposition 65 notice is \"the only way to put our foot down and say enough is enough.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I feel it's important we protect the residents and the community at large,\" Monroe said in an interview. \"There's no governing body from City Hall or from the city that is taking drastic measures to do so.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11911263,news_11908979,news_11879641\" label=\"Related Posts\"]Environmental Democracy Project Executive Director Tanya Boyce, who worked as a planner and redevelopment analyst for the city of Oakland earlier in her career, also faults what she calls the city's \"complete, total lapse\" in enforcing regulations in the Green Sage case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The records indicate that they have given warnings and then extended warnings and extended warnings and extended warnings when they know that there are life safety situations here,\" Boyce said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I really am concerned as an ex-city employee about the type of behavior and the actual lack of taking the duties of enforcement and regulation seriously,\" she said. \"I know from personal experience that ... East Oakland gets under-regulated based on the fact that they don't think anybody out here is going to speak up.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaya Allan Sugerman, who directs public-interest litigation for the Center for Environmental Health, said neighborhoods downwind of Green Sage already are heavily burdened by diesel engine pollution from nearby freeways, industry and other sources. She said Green Sage's contribution to the air quality problem is \"one huge exposure on top of a mountain\" of other hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This industry moving into East Oakland from outside and being allowed to pollute this community without repercussions is environmental racism in action,\" Sugerman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent report filed as part of Oakland's 2045 general plan update \u003ca href=\"https://cao-94612.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/EJ-Racial-Equity-Baseline_Appendix.pdf\">ranked the neighborhoods adjacent to the Green Sage facilities as among the city's most polluted\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Citing the dangers posed to nearby residents by high levels of diesel exhaust, groups filed a Prop. 65 notice of violation with California's attorney general to get cannabis landlords to halt use of generators to power its buildings.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The owners of a massive East Oakland cannabis facility are facing the latest in a series of enforcement actions intended to halt the use of pollution-spewing diesel generators to provide power to the complex.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents in one of the buildings owned by Denver-based Green Sage teamed with a pair of Oakland environmental groups to use Proposition 65, the state's landmark toxics enforcement law, to get the semi-trailer-sized generators shut down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The move comes nearly two years after Green Sage began relying on diesel generators to power its two big San Leandro Street buildings — and after a long series of thus far unsuccessful attempts by city agencies and regional air regulators to stop the firm's unpermitted use of the heavily polluting machines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Oakland-based Center for Environmental Health and the recently formed Environmental Democracy Project, along with residents of a building where the generators began running in July 2020, filed \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/22070993/green-sage-prop-65-notice-220627.pdf\">a Proposition 65 notice of violation\u003c/a> on Monday against Denver-based cannabis landlord Green Sage.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The notice alleges the company has failed to provide Prop. 65 warnings about the health dangers, including cancer, posed by exposure to diesel exhaust. Green Sage has operated as many as nine of the unpermitted semi-trailer-sized generators around the clock outside its San Leandro Street buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Just to the east of the generators, where the wind carries the pollution, is a very dense residential neighborhood, a community of color,\" said Lucas Williams, an attorney representing the environmental groups and building residents. \"There's schools, playgrounds, and people live there. So not surprisingly the elevated cancer risk is very significant.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The notice, accompanied by a confidential scientific report on the generators' effects on residents' health to the California attorney general's office, is the first step in a process that could lead to state enforcement action or a private lawsuit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If found in violation of the toxics law, Green Sage could face retroactive penalties of as much as $2,500 a day. That could mean a total penalty of nearly $2 million if assessed back to July 2020, when the first generator was deployed at the Green Sage properties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The generators have prompted the city of Oakland to issue at least three separate notices of violation over the past year. \u003ca href=\"https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/22073692-green-sage-oakland-nov-220407\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A notice sent to Green Sage in early April\u003c/a> warned the company it must halt use of the diesel engines.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Following up on public complaints last September, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued a notice of violation against Green Sage in February and is currently seeking an order to have the generators shut down.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The generators continue to run as Green Sage appeals the city order and seeks to delay the air district's enforcement action. The company has said the generators are necessary because electricity demands at its facilities have exceeded PG&E's local power capacity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Alistair Monroe, a resident of one of the Green Sage-owned buildings, The Cannery, said that given the city's failure to get the generators shut down, filing the Proposition 65 notice is \"the only way to put our foot down and say enough is enough.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I feel it's important we protect the residents and the community at large,\" Monroe said in an interview. \"There's no governing body from City Hall or from the city that is taking drastic measures to do so.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Environmental Democracy Project Executive Director Tanya Boyce, who worked as a planner and redevelopment analyst for the city of Oakland earlier in her career, also faults what she calls the city's \"complete, total lapse\" in enforcing regulations in the Green Sage case.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The records indicate that they have given warnings and then extended warnings and extended warnings and extended warnings when they know that there are life safety situations here,\" Boyce said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"I really am concerned as an ex-city employee about the type of behavior and the actual lack of taking the duties of enforcement and regulation seriously,\" she said. \"I know from personal experience that ... East Oakland gets under-regulated based on the fact that they don't think anybody out here is going to speak up.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Kaya Allan Sugerman, who directs public-interest litigation for the Center for Environmental Health, said neighborhoods downwind of Green Sage already are heavily burdened by diesel engine pollution from nearby freeways, industry and other sources. She said Green Sage's contribution to the air quality problem is \"one huge exposure on top of a mountain\" of other hazards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"This industry moving into East Oakland from outside and being allowed to pollute this community without repercussions is environmental racism in action,\" Sugerman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent report filed as part of Oakland's 2045 general plan update \u003ca href=\"https://cao-94612.s3.amazonaws.com/documents/EJ-Racial-Equity-Baseline_Appendix.pdf\">ranked the neighborhoods adjacent to the Green Sage facilities as among the city's most polluted\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Regulator Moves to Shut Down Diesel Generators at East Oakland Cannabis Facility",
"title": "Regulator Moves to Shut Down Diesel Generators at East Oakland Cannabis Facility",
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"content": "\u003cp>Regional air regulators are moving to shut down a set of giant diesel generators that have been used for more than a year and a half to power a major cannabis-growing facility in East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21678879/2022-4-20-green-sage-accusation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a complaint issued Wednesday\u003c/a>, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District formally accused a Denver-based firm called Green Sage of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11908979/a-denver-based-firm-is-using-huge-diesel-generators-to-grow-cannabis-in-east-oakland-now-the-city-is-trying-to-shut-them-down\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">installing the heavily polluting generators\u003c/a> as a long-term substitute for standard grid power in violation of state and regional regulations.[aside postID=\"news_11908979,arts_13826417,news_11879641\" label=\"Related Posts\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The impacts of these generators are serious,\" Damian Breen, the district's deputy operations chief, said in an interview. \"East Oakland suffers from more air pollution than other parts of the Bay Area, and diesel particulate matter can have a significant impact.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As many as nine of the huge diesel units have operated simultaneously outside the two buildings. Portable diesel generators emit diesel particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and other pollutants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complaint seeks an order from the district's independent hearing board requiring Green Sage and cannabis tenants at its two San Leandro Street properties to shut down the generators until they get permits to operate them. The complaint also makes it clear that permits are available only for temporary generator use — for instance, during short-term emergencies or to provide power during electrical upgrades — not as a long-term replacement for the conventional grid power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breen said it could take 30 to 60 days for the hearing board to convene and deliver an abatement order to halt use of the generators, the first of which was installed in July 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://greensagemb.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Green Sage\u003c/a> bought two large San Leandro Street buildings, known as The Tinnery and The Cannery, in 2016 and 2017, and began leasing space to cannabis operations. The company is owned by Ken Greer, 41, a former Massachusetts stockbroker with addresses in Denver and San Diego County, and Bruce Miller, 70, a real-estate agent listed with residences in Los Angeles, Wyoming and Montana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents of The Cannery, a live-work space that has housed artists and artisans for nearly 50 years, have raised alarms for the past 20 months about the industrial generators and the pollution they're emitting in a part of Oakland that has long suffered from hazardous air quality due to proximity to Interstate 880 and factories in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When power demand from energy-intensive growing operations overtaxed the existing transformers and other electrical infrastructure at the buildings, Green Sage began renting semi-trailer-sized diesel generators as its primary source for tenants' electrical needs. The generators consume thousands of gallons of fuel a day, and cannabis operators at the complex report monthly fuel bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11909005\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11909005\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut-800x541.jpg\" alt=\"A large tanker truck delivers\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut-800x541.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut-1020x690.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut-160x108.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut-1536x1039.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tanker delivering diesel fuel to industrial generators outside the Green Sage cannabis complex on San Leandro Street in East Oakland. Seven generators at the site require daily fuel deliveries and burn more than 2,000 gallons of fuel a day. \u003ccite>(Amaya Nicole Edwards/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The formal air district complaint follows a February \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21480754/bay-area-air-quality-management-district-green-sage-notice-of-violation-feb-16-2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">notice of violation\u003c/a> the agency issued because Green Sage had failed to get permits to install or operate the generators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of Oakland has slapped the company with a pair of violation notices for running the generators without permits and for a host of code violations. The \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21475890/city-of-oakland-march-21-2022-notice-of-violation-to-green-sage.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">most recent notice\u003c/a>, sent last month, gave Green Sage until Friday, April 22, to end use of the generators. But as of Thursday, just a day before that deadline, the generators continue to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green Sage did not respond to a request for comment on the latest violation notice. In answer to the air district's February notice of violation, a Green Sage lawyer wrote the agency a letter saying the company had filed \"application materials\" for the diesel-powered generators at San Leandro Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter from San Francisco attorney Darrin Gambelin went on to say that Green Sage also was preparing to submit an application to install cleaner-burning turbines that would be powered by gas derived from dairy waste. The turbines would \"immediately reduce emissions and expeditiously install a permanent clean, renewable, net-negative carbon power source.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company floated the potentially expensive turbine proposal despite the fact it appears to be in extreme financial straits. Green Sage apparently stopped making payments last August on a $54.5 million dollar loan it had gotten to underwrite construction at the San Leandro Street properties and was placed in default in December. The buildings are currently set to be sold at a May 4 foreclosure auction in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In any event, the air district says Green Sage has yet to file a complete application for either the diesel generators or the proposed turbines. And Breen said Wednesday it's long past time for the company to have complied with agency regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The correct course of action would have been to notify the air district before [the generators] were moved into the area,\" Breen said. \"We could have done a health risk analysis. We could have made sure that the folks in East Oakland who suffer from disproportionate burdens from air pollution were protected.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "The city of Oakland also is trying to end use of generators in a part of the city that has long suffered from high levels of air pollution.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Regional air regulators are moving to shut down a set of giant diesel generators that have been used for more than a year and a half to power a major cannabis-growing facility in East Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21678879/2022-4-20-green-sage-accusation.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a complaint issued Wednesday\u003c/a>, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District formally accused a Denver-based firm called Green Sage of \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11908979/a-denver-based-firm-is-using-huge-diesel-generators-to-grow-cannabis-in-east-oakland-now-the-city-is-trying-to-shut-them-down\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">installing the heavily polluting generators\u003c/a> as a long-term substitute for standard grid power in violation of state and regional regulations.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The impacts of these generators are serious,\" Damian Breen, the district's deputy operations chief, said in an interview. \"East Oakland suffers from more air pollution than other parts of the Bay Area, and diesel particulate matter can have a significant impact.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As many as nine of the huge diesel units have operated simultaneously outside the two buildings. Portable diesel generators emit diesel particulate matter, nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and other pollutants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The complaint seeks an order from the district's independent hearing board requiring Green Sage and cannabis tenants at its two San Leandro Street properties to shut down the generators until they get permits to operate them. The complaint also makes it clear that permits are available only for temporary generator use — for instance, during short-term emergencies or to provide power during electrical upgrades — not as a long-term replacement for the conventional grid power.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Breen said it could take 30 to 60 days for the hearing board to convene and deliver an abatement order to halt use of the generators, the first of which was installed in July 2020.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://greensagemb.com/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Green Sage\u003c/a> bought two large San Leandro Street buildings, known as The Tinnery and The Cannery, in 2016 and 2017, and began leasing space to cannabis operations. The company is owned by Ken Greer, 41, a former Massachusetts stockbroker with addresses in Denver and San Diego County, and Bruce Miller, 70, a real-estate agent listed with residences in Los Angeles, Wyoming and Montana.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents of The Cannery, a live-work space that has housed artists and artisans for nearly 50 years, have raised alarms for the past 20 months about the industrial generators and the pollution they're emitting in a part of Oakland that has long suffered from hazardous air quality due to proximity to Interstate 880 and factories in the area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When power demand from energy-intensive growing operations overtaxed the existing transformers and other electrical infrastructure at the buildings, Green Sage began renting semi-trailer-sized diesel generators as its primary source for tenants' electrical needs. The generators consume thousands of gallons of fuel a day, and cannabis operators at the complex report monthly fuel bills in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11909005\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg class=\"size-medium wp-image-11909005\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut-800x541.jpg\" alt=\"A large tanker truck delivers\" width=\"800\" height=\"541\" srcset=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut-800x541.jpg 800w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut-1020x690.jpg 1020w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut-160x108.jpg 160w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut-1536x1039.jpg 1536w, https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/03/RS54583_20220317-IMG_6392-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A tanker delivering diesel fuel to industrial generators outside the Green Sage cannabis complex on San Leandro Street in East Oakland. Seven generators at the site require daily fuel deliveries and burn more than 2,000 gallons of fuel a day. \u003ccite>(Amaya Nicole Edwards/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The formal air district complaint follows a February \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21480754/bay-area-air-quality-management-district-green-sage-notice-of-violation-feb-16-2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">notice of violation\u003c/a> the agency issued because Green Sage had failed to get permits to install or operate the generators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city of Oakland has slapped the company with a pair of violation notices for running the generators without permits and for a host of code violations. The \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21475890/city-of-oakland-march-21-2022-notice-of-violation-to-green-sage.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">most recent notice\u003c/a>, sent last month, gave Green Sage until Friday, April 22, to end use of the generators. But as of Thursday, just a day before that deadline, the generators continue to run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Green Sage did not respond to a request for comment on the latest violation notice. In answer to the air district's February notice of violation, a Green Sage lawyer wrote the agency a letter saying the company had filed \"application materials\" for the diesel-powered generators at San Leandro Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The letter from San Francisco attorney Darrin Gambelin went on to say that Green Sage also was preparing to submit an application to install cleaner-burning turbines that would be powered by gas derived from dairy waste. The turbines would \"immediately reduce emissions and expeditiously install a permanent clean, renewable, net-negative carbon power source.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company floated the potentially expensive turbine proposal despite the fact it appears to be in extreme financial straits. Green Sage apparently stopped making payments last August on a $54.5 million dollar loan it had gotten to underwrite construction at the San Leandro Street properties and was placed in default in December. The buildings are currently set to be sold at a May 4 foreclosure auction in Oakland.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In any event, the air district says Green Sage has yet to file a complete application for either the diesel generators or the proposed turbines. And Breen said Wednesday it's long past time for the company to have complied with agency regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The correct course of action would have been to notify the air district before [the generators] were moved into the area,\" Breen said. \"We could have done a health risk analysis. We could have made sure that the folks in East Oakland who suffer from disproportionate burdens from air pollution were protected.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "first-i-had-heard-of-it-valeros-benicia-refinery-secretly-released-toxic-chemicals-for-years",
"title": "'First I Had Heard of It': Valero's Benicia Refinery Secretly Released Toxic Chemicals for Years",
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"headTitle": "‘First I Had Heard of It’: Valero’s Benicia Refinery Secretly Released Toxic Chemicals for Years | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Officials in Benicia and Solano County want to know why Valero’s oil refinery there was able to release excessive levels of hazardous chemicals for more than 15 years before regional air regulators discovered the emissions — and why those regulators failed for another three years to alert local communities to the potential danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Bay Area Air Quality Management District investigation launched in November 2018 found that one refinery unit produced pollutant emissions that were, on average, hundreds of times higher than levels permitted by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emissions consisted of a variety of “precursor organic compounds,” or POCs, including benzene and other toxic chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An air district rule limits the release of such compounds to 15 pounds a day and a maximum concentration of 300 parts per million. The district’s investigation found that from December 2015 through December 2018, POC emissions averaged 5,200 pounds a day — nearly 350 times the daily limit. The average POC concentration recorded during the first year of that period was 19,148 parts per million, more than 60 times the level set by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11906319\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 940px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11906319\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png\" alt=\"Map showing location of Valero's Benicia refinery\" width=\"940\" height=\"986\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png 940w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery-800x839.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery-160x168.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003ci>Map by Matthew Green/KQED\u003c/i>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Those findings led the air district to issue a notice of violation to Valero in March 2019. But it wasn’t until late last month that \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/communications-and-outreach/publications/news-releases/2022/hbvalero_220124_2022_005-pdf.pdf?la=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the agency went public\u003c/a> and announced it would seek to impose \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21273425/baaqmd-valero-stipulated-order-of-abatement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an abatement order\u003c/a> requiring the refinery to halt the excessive pollution releases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was the first I had heard of it,” said Benicia Mayor Steve Young, one of four members of the city council who say they want to know why the community was not told earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should have been notified by the air district when this was first discovered in 2019, and certainly while negotiations with Valero were going on,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Solano County agency responsible for inspecting the Valero refinery and investigating incidents there says it was also left out of the loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chris Ambrose, a hazardous materials specialist with the county’s Environmental Health Division, said in an email his agency “was never formally notified by or requested to participate in BAAQMD’s emissions investigation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A health risk assessment carried out by the air district in 2019 found that the refinery’s release of benzene and other pollutants posed an elevated risk of cancer and chronic health threats and violated several agency regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas told KQED that because the wind often pushes refinery emissions away from Benicia, the refinery’s prolonged pollution releases didn’t likely pose any extreme risk to residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But it doesn’t excuse the process. It doesn’t excuse the failure to adhere to standards and it doesn’t provide any excuse for the fact that the city of Benicia was put at some risk as a result of these emissions,” Matyas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district, which plans to hold a \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/news-and-events/workshops?event=d7aa32de-98c2-4541-8a5a-b8d1c7673fd1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">virtual public workshop\u003c/a> on the Valero releases on Thursday night, is defending its decision to not alert local officials earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To protect the integrity of the air district’s investigation and ensure that Valero is held accountable, we were not able to notify the city of Benicia until the investigation was concluded,” district spokesperson Kristine Roselius said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going forward, the air district is committed to additional transparency around these types of ongoing violations, to putting companies in front of our hearing board in a public forum where information can be shared, and working to ensure these types of cases are brought into that forum as quickly as possible,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearing board Roselius referred to is an independent panel created under state law to rule on issues that arise at individual facilities that the air district regulates. The board is scheduled to consider the district’s abatement order at \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/board-of-directors/hearing-board/misc/valero-hearing-board-case-feb-2022/hearing-board-fact-sheet_2_14_22_proof-pdf.pdf?la=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an all-day public session on March 15\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Coverage\" tag=\"valero\"]At issue is the infrastructure that produces hydrogen for the facility. Hydrogen is integral to several refining processes, but demand for it throughout the refinery fluctuates. When the supply of hydrogen in the system is higher than the demand for it, the refinery vents the unneeded gas into the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district says that soon after it launched its investigation in late 2018, it discovered that Valero had known since 2003 that the refinery was venting hydrogen that contained a range of regulated pollutants, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Valero devised a workaround that reduced emissions significantly but still failed to bring them within allowable limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district’s proposed abatement order would set up a timeline for the company to design and build a new vent system to bring the facility into compliance, with the work completed no later than the facility’s next “turnaround” — the industry term for a refinery-wide maintenance shutdown.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Benicia City Council has asked Valero executives and air district officials to answer questions at its \u003ca href=\"https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/benicia/b50b09eaf4e7a188f73586983b664a010.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 1 council meeting\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Young, Vice Mayor Tom Campbell and council members Christina Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada all say they want to know how the emissions went undetected for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d like to know how it was missed when Valero has had two or three full plant turnarounds since 2003 and the air board is out there every week,” Campbell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Valero representative responded to a request for comment by referring KQED to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Press_Release_-_BAAQMD_Valero_Stipulated_Order_01.25.22.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a city of Benicia press release\u003c/a> that includes the air district’s proposed abatement order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district says it’s consulting with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine whether the Valero releases violated federal law. It’s unclear when the EPA learned of the refinery problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Benicia facility has been the subject of repeated scrutiny for past problems, leading to investigations by not only air regulators but also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11771298/solano-county-says-valero-violated-state-regulations-in-march-refinery-shutdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">county hazardous materials specialists\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681218/cpuc-probe-says-pge-mistakes-led-to-benicia-refinery-outage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the California Public Utilities Commission\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Local officials want to know why the refinery's excessive pollution releases went undetected for 15 years — and why air regulators didn't inform them. The air district plans to hold a virtual public workshop on the releases Thursday night. ",
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"subhead": "The Air District is revealing more about Valero's years long refinery gases venting problem. ",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Officials in Benicia and Solano County want to know why Valero’s oil refinery there was able to release excessive levels of hazardous chemicals for more than 15 years before regional air regulators discovered the emissions — and why those regulators failed for another three years to alert local communities to the potential danger.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Bay Area Air Quality Management District investigation launched in November 2018 found that one refinery unit produced pollutant emissions that were, on average, hundreds of times higher than levels permitted by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The emissions consisted of a variety of “precursor organic compounds,” or POCs, including benzene and other toxic chemicals.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An air district rule limits the release of such compounds to 15 pounds a day and a maximum concentration of 300 parts per million. The district’s investigation found that from December 2015 through December 2018, POC emissions averaged 5,200 pounds a day — nearly 350 times the daily limit. The average POC concentration recorded during the first year of that period was 19,148 parts per million, more than 60 times the level set by the agency.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11906319\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\" style=\"max-width: 940px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11906319\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png\" alt=\"Map showing location of Valero's Benicia refinery\" width=\"940\" height=\"986\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery.png 940w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery-800x839.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/02/BeniciaRefinery-160x168.png 160w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 940px) 100vw, 940px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">\u003ci>Map by Matthew Green/KQED\u003c/i>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Those findings led the air district to issue a notice of violation to Valero in March 2019. But it wasn’t until late last month that \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/communications-and-outreach/publications/news-releases/2022/hbvalero_220124_2022_005-pdf.pdf?la=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the agency went public\u003c/a> and announced it would seek to impose \u003ca href=\"https://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/21273425/baaqmd-valero-stipulated-order-of-abatement.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an abatement order\u003c/a> requiring the refinery to halt the excessive pollution releases.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That was the first I had heard of it,” said Benicia Mayor Steve Young, one of four members of the city council who say they want to know why the community was not told earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should have been notified by the air district when this was first discovered in 2019, and certainly while negotiations with Valero were going on,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Solano County agency responsible for inspecting the Valero refinery and investigating incidents there says it was also left out of the loop.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chris Ambrose, a hazardous materials specialist with the county’s Environmental Health Division, said in an email his agency “was never formally notified by or requested to participate in BAAQMD’s emissions investigation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A health risk assessment carried out by the air district in 2019 found that the refinery’s release of benzene and other pollutants posed an elevated risk of cancer and chronic health threats and violated several agency regulations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Solano County Health Officer Bela Matyas told KQED that because the wind often pushes refinery emissions away from Benicia, the refinery’s prolonged pollution releases didn’t likely pose any extreme risk to residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But it doesn’t excuse the process. It doesn’t excuse the failure to adhere to standards and it doesn’t provide any excuse for the fact that the city of Benicia was put at some risk as a result of these emissions,” Matyas said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district, which plans to hold a \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/news-and-events/workshops?event=d7aa32de-98c2-4541-8a5a-b8d1c7673fd1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">virtual public workshop\u003c/a> on the Valero releases on Thursday night, is defending its decision to not alert local officials earlier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To protect the integrity of the air district’s investigation and ensure that Valero is held accountable, we were not able to notify the city of Benicia until the investigation was concluded,” district spokesperson Kristine Roselius said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Going forward, the air district is committed to additional transparency around these types of ongoing violations, to putting companies in front of our hearing board in a public forum where information can be shared, and working to ensure these types of cases are brought into that forum as quickly as possible,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearing board Roselius referred to is an independent panel created under state law to rule on issues that arise at individual facilities that the air district regulates. The board is scheduled to consider the district’s abatement order at \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/board-of-directors/hearing-board/misc/valero-hearing-board-case-feb-2022/hearing-board-fact-sheet_2_14_22_proof-pdf.pdf?la=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">an all-day public session on March 15\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At issue is the infrastructure that produces hydrogen for the facility. Hydrogen is integral to several refining processes, but demand for it throughout the refinery fluctuates. When the supply of hydrogen in the system is higher than the demand for it, the refinery vents the unneeded gas into the atmosphere.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district says that soon after it launched its investigation in late 2018, it discovered that Valero had known since 2003 that the refinery was venting hydrogen that contained a range of regulated pollutants, including benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2019, Valero devised a workaround that reduced emissions significantly but still failed to bring them within allowable limits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district’s proposed abatement order would set up a timeline for the company to design and build a new vent system to bring the facility into compliance, with the work completed no later than the facility’s next “turnaround” — the industry term for a refinery-wide maintenance shutdown.\u003cbr>\n\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Benicia City Council has asked Valero executives and air district officials to answer questions at its \u003ca href=\"https://granicus_production_attachments.s3.amazonaws.com/benicia/b50b09eaf4e7a188f73586983b664a010.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 1 council meeting\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mayor Young, Vice Mayor Tom Campbell and council members Christina Strawbridge and Lionel Largaespada all say they want to know how the emissions went undetected for so long.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d like to know how it was missed when Valero has had two or three full plant turnarounds since 2003 and the air board is out there every week,” Campbell said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A Valero representative responded to a request for comment by referring KQED to \u003ca href=\"https://www.ci.benicia.ca.us/vertical/sites/%7BF991A639-AAED-4E1A-9735-86EA195E2C8D%7D/uploads/Press_Release_-_BAAQMD_Valero_Stipulated_Order_01.25.22.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">a city of Benicia press release\u003c/a> that includes the air district’s proposed abatement order.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The air district says it’s consulting with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to determine whether the Valero releases violated federal law. It’s unclear when the EPA learned of the refinery problems.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Benicia facility has been the subject of repeated scrutiny for past problems, leading to investigations by not only air regulators but also \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11771298/solano-county-says-valero-violated-state-regulations-in-march-refinery-shutdown\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">county hazardous materials specialists\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11681218/cpuc-probe-says-pge-mistakes-led-to-benicia-refinery-outage\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">the California Public Utilities Commission\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Chevron, PBF Energy Sue Air District Over New Bay Area Refinery Pollution Rule",
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"content": "\u003cp>Two of the nation's biggest oil companies are suing Bay Area air regulators to block a new rule that would force their regional refineries to significantly reduce the amount of pollution they spew into the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chevron and PBF Energy filed separate lawsuits this week in Contra Costa County Superior Court against the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), whose \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11876301/bay-area-refineries-must-dramatically-cut-pollution-air-district-says-in-historic-vote\">board voted 19 to 3 to require both refineries to reduce the particulate matter\u003c/a> their plants emit. The rule is set to take effect in five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11878624/a-pivotal-moment-for-regulating-the-bay-areas-oil-industry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In the lead-up to the July vote\u003c/a>, both companies slammed the rule and threatened legal action.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Andres Soto, Richmond community activist\"]'Chevron and PBF would rather spend endless dollars on their army of lawyers rather than implement a hard-won victory by frontline polluted communities to improve their health.'[/pullquote]Chevron says the air district overstated the public health benefits of the new rule and underestimated the costs of implementing it at the company's Richmond refinery. It contends the new rule represents the most expensive particulate matter regulation in state history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The Air Board's rulemaking process was flawed and the Board's actions ... conflict with state law and are based on faulty science,\" Chevron said in a statement Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PBF — the second company — has argued that having to buy and install a device \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11754005/shell-to-sell-martinez-refinery-for-1-billion\">to meet the particulate matter reduction requirements would force it to shut down its Martinez refinery\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its lawsuit, PBF says its own emissions proposal, which called for a reduction in particulate matter releases, but to a lesser degree than the one approved, was improperly removed from consideration by the air district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company argues the district ignored requirements set forth by the California Environmental Quality Act, and says the technology likely needed to meet the new standard \"will have significant adverse cost, operational, and business impacts to regulated refineries.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Davis, president of PBF Energy's Western Region, said in a statement that the refinery is moving forward on a planned project that will significantly reduce its particulate matter releases by early next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\"Despite being disappointed by the ... board's decision,\" the refinery is \"committed to continue working with the air district to reduce particulate matter emissions,\" Davis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11874932/air-regulators-weigh-plan-aimed-at-dramatically-cutting-bay-area-refinery-pollution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new rule\u003c/a> focuses on key refinery components called fluidized catalytic cracking units, which break down heavy crude oil into lighter products like gasoline. During that process — a part of normal daily operations at many large refineries — carbon material known as coke is burned off, producing large amounts of particulate matter released into the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To satisfy the new rule, PBF and Chevron would most likely need to buy and install devices known as wet-gas scrubbers at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district says the rule could cut annual Chevron and PBF emissions of PM10 particulates by an estimated 400 tons a year, reducing preventable deaths and increasing the average lifespan of people who live near the refineries. That so-called \"dirty air,\" which contains soot, dust and dirt, represents the most significant air pollution health hazard in the Bay Area, it asserts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmentalists and health advocates lobbied the air district for the change. They argued the district needed to follow through on its stated mission to keep nearby residents, many of whom are lower-income people of color who have suffered from disproportionately high rates of respiratory disease, safe from air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andres Soto, a Richmond organizer with Communities for a Better Environment, called the lawsuits an egregious act of racial and environmental injustice by some of the world's largest corporations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"related coverage\" tag=\"bay-area-refineries\"]\"Chevron and PBF would rather spend endless dollars on their army of lawyers rather than implement a hard-won victory by frontline polluted communities to improve their health,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Amanda Millstein, a Richmond pediatrician and co-founder of Climate Health Now, a group of California health professionals pushing to transition away from fossil fuels, took aim at Chevron, the oil giant that runs the refinery in her city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Chevron's shameless and predictable delay is coming at the expense of my patients' and their families' lives,\" Millstein said. \"It is outrageous for the oil industry to sue a government entity for acting in the public's interest while fulfilling its charter.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute, said the lawsuits fly in the face of research that shows fossil fuel pollution causes thousands of premature deaths in California every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's contemptible for Chevron to pay its pricey lawyers to sue rather than just install pollution-control equipment that many refineries already have in place,\" Kretzmann said. \"Given this is a matter of life and death for frontline communities, Chevron's penny-pinching is completely immoral.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jed Holtzman, a former policy analyst with 350 Bay Area, which pushed for the rule, said local advocates fought hard to get the district to put the life-saving rule in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Bay Area communities should be outraged that Big Oil is trying to subvert democratic government action to protect our health,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The change is not expected to affect the Bay Area's three other refineries. Valero's Benicia plant already has a wet-gas scrubber; Phillips 66 in Rodeo does not have a fluid catalytic cracking unit; and Marathon in Martinez has been idled for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Phillips 66 and Marathon also plan to convert their local facilities into renewable diesel plants in the coming years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Two of the nation's biggest oil companies are suing Bay Area air regulators to block a new rule that would force their regional refineries to significantly reduce the amount of pollution they spew into the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Chevron and PBF Energy filed separate lawsuits this week in Contra Costa County Superior Court against the Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD), whose \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11876301/bay-area-refineries-must-dramatically-cut-pollution-air-district-says-in-historic-vote\">board voted 19 to 3 to require both refineries to reduce the particulate matter\u003c/a> their plants emit. The rule is set to take effect in five years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11878624/a-pivotal-moment-for-regulating-the-bay-areas-oil-industry\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">In the lead-up to the July vote\u003c/a>, both companies slammed the rule and threatened legal action.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Chevron says the air district overstated the public health benefits of the new rule and underestimated the costs of implementing it at the company's Richmond refinery. It contends the new rule represents the most expensive particulate matter regulation in state history.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"The Air Board's rulemaking process was flawed and the Board's actions ... conflict with state law and are based on faulty science,\" Chevron said in a statement Wednesday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PBF — the second company — has argued that having to buy and install a device \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11754005/shell-to-sell-martinez-refinery-for-1-billion\">to meet the particulate matter reduction requirements would force it to shut down its Martinez refinery\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In its lawsuit, PBF says its own emissions proposal, which called for a reduction in particulate matter releases, but to a lesser degree than the one approved, was improperly removed from consideration by the air district.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The company argues the district ignored requirements set forth by the California Environmental Quality Act, and says the technology likely needed to meet the new standard \"will have significant adverse cost, operational, and business impacts to regulated refineries.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paul Davis, president of PBF Energy's Western Region, said in a statement that the refinery is moving forward on a planned project that will significantly reduce its particulate matter releases by early next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\"Despite being disappointed by the ... board's decision,\" the refinery is \"committed to continue working with the air district to reduce particulate matter emissions,\" Davis said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11874932/air-regulators-weigh-plan-aimed-at-dramatically-cutting-bay-area-refinery-pollution\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">new rule\u003c/a> focuses on key refinery components called fluidized catalytic cracking units, which break down heavy crude oil into lighter products like gasoline. During that process — a part of normal daily operations at many large refineries — carbon material known as coke is burned off, producing large amounts of particulate matter released into the air.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To satisfy the new rule, PBF and Chevron would most likely need to buy and install devices known as wet-gas scrubbers at a cost of hundreds of millions of dollars.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The district says the rule could cut annual Chevron and PBF emissions of PM10 particulates by an estimated 400 tons a year, reducing preventable deaths and increasing the average lifespan of people who live near the refineries. That so-called \"dirty air,\" which contains soot, dust and dirt, represents the most significant air pollution health hazard in the Bay Area, it asserts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmentalists and health advocates lobbied the air district for the change. They argued the district needed to follow through on its stated mission to keep nearby residents, many of whom are lower-income people of color who have suffered from disproportionately high rates of respiratory disease, safe from air pollution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Andres Soto, a Richmond organizer with Communities for a Better Environment, called the lawsuits an egregious act of racial and environmental injustice by some of the world's largest corporations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\"Chevron and PBF would rather spend endless dollars on their army of lawyers rather than implement a hard-won victory by frontline polluted communities to improve their health,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dr. Amanda Millstein, a Richmond pediatrician and co-founder of Climate Health Now, a group of California health professionals pushing to transition away from fossil fuels, took aim at Chevron, the oil giant that runs the refinery in her city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Chevron's shameless and predictable delay is coming at the expense of my patients' and their families' lives,\" Millstein said. \"It is outrageous for the oil industry to sue a government entity for acting in the public's interest while fulfilling its charter.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Hollin Kretzmann, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity's Climate Law Institute, said the lawsuits fly in the face of research that shows fossil fuel pollution causes thousands of premature deaths in California every year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"It's contemptible for Chevron to pay its pricey lawyers to sue rather than just install pollution-control equipment that many refineries already have in place,\" Kretzmann said. \"Given this is a matter of life and death for frontline communities, Chevron's penny-pinching is completely immoral.\"\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Jed Holtzman, a former policy analyst with 350 Bay Area, which pushed for the rule, said local advocates fought hard to get the district to put the life-saving rule in place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"Bay Area communities should be outraged that Big Oil is trying to subvert democratic government action to protect our health,\" he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The change is not expected to affect the Bay Area's three other refineries. Valero's Benicia plant already has a wet-gas scrubber; Phillips 66 in Rodeo does not have a fluid catalytic cracking unit; and Marathon in Martinez has been idled for months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both Phillips 66 and Marathon also plan to convert their local facilities into renewable diesel plants in the coming years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"disqusTitle": "Free Air Filters for Lower-Income People With Asthma: How Bay Area Homes Can Sign Up",
"title": "Free Air Filters for Lower-Income People With Asthma: How Bay Area Homes Can Sign Up",
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"content": "\u003cp>With the dual dangers of COVID-19 and raging wildfires, clean air has rarely been more top of mind in California. But many have struggled with an unhealthy breathing environment for years, like those living close to freeways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, some of the Bay Area's most vulnerable may be in for a breath of fresh air with a bit of help from local health officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, through a partnership with\u003ca href=\"http://www.rampasthma.org/\"> Regional Asthma Management and Prevention\u003c/a>, or RAMP, will provide home air purifiers to 2,000 lower-income residents in six Bay Area counties who have been diagnosed with asthma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, speaking Wednesday at the Roots Community Health Center in East Oakland, said the program will help lower-income communities and communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"These air filters will not only address air quality, which is being challenged by the wildfire season, but also will lessen the spread of COVID-19, a double benefit for those who have been most impacted,\" Schaaf said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seven Bay Area nonprofits and health organizations that were awarded funds through the Asthma Mitigation Project will distribute the HEPA-grade filters — key to filtering wildfire smoke. Participating counties include Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don't have time to read our full guide on how to sign up to get a filter, here's the quick version:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The program focuses on Medi-Cal patients and undocumented people without Medi-Cal. To qualify, eligible clients should have \"moderate to severe\" or \"poorly controlled\" asthma, according to a statement from a BAAQMD spokesperson. The program is for people enrolled in the state's Asthma Mitigation Project.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Officials say interested people who meet those qualifications should contact their health provider and ask about BAAQMD's \"Home Air Filtration Program.\"\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you don't have a primary health care provider, contact one of the organizations participating in the program,\u003ca href=\"http://www.rampasthma.org/\"> or RAMP itself\u003c/a>. A full list of those participating organizations \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/communications-and-outreach/publications/fact-sheets/asthma-mitigation-FAQ_final_080521r_web%20pdf\">can be found here.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch3>How Does the Program Work?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11884337/investigators-probing-pges-possible-link-to-fateful-dixie-fire-drone-flight\">With wildfire season already underway\u003c/a>, nonprofit organizations have been given these air filtration units to distribute to qualifying households.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The aim is to improve breathing conditions at home — especially since wildfire smoke can trigger wheezing and other health impacts in those who experience asthma, emphysema or other respiratory conditions. A clean room with an air filtration unit can offer wildfire smoke relief, health officials say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wildfires are increasing in the region and residents with asthma are some of the most vulnerable to the related smoke impacts,” BAAQMD CEO Jack Broadbent said in a statement. The program, Broadbent said, \"can help reduce emergency room visits when air quality becomes unhealthy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When someone signs up for the program and qualifies, the Asthma Mitigation Project will provide in-home visits by community health workers to educate people on asthma self-management and on setting up air filtration units. The program has guides available in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Who Qualifies?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>This program is focused on Medi-Cal patients, particularly children and adults with asthma. You can also qualify if you're an undocumented adult who is not otherwise qualified for Medi-Cal and who has asthma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_1972725\" label=\"Wildfire and Air Quality\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The severity classification of asthma, says the Air District, should be \"moderate to severe or poorly controlled.\" That's determined by an asthma-related emergency department visit or a hospitalization, or having had two sick or urgent care asthma-related visits in the past 12 months, or a score of 19 or lower on the Asthma Control Test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, you can obtain a recommendation from a licensed physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How Can I Sign Up?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>First and foremost, reach out to your personal physician or health care provider to ask about the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if that's not an option for you, not to worry: A number of organizations are participating in the program and you can reach out to them directly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here's a list of organizations broken down by county:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Alameda\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"https://acphd.org/contact-acphd/\">The Alameda County Public Health Department\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://rootsclinic.org/locations/\">Roots Community Health Center\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Contra Costa\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"https://cchealth.org/contactcchs/telephone.php\">Contra Costa Health Services\u003c/a>,\u003ca href=\"https://lifelongmedical.org/contact-us/\"> LifeLong Medical Care\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>San Francisco\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"http://www.breathecalifornia.org/affiliates.html\">Breathe California \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>San Mateo\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"https://www.smchealth.org/contact-us\">San Mateo County Family Health Services\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Santa Clara\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"http://www.breathecalifornia.org/affiliates.html\">Breathe California\u003c/a> (based in San José)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Sonoma\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"https://srhealth.org/about-us/contact-us/\">Santa Rosa Community Health\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>People can \u003ca href=\"http://www.rampasthma.org/\">also contact RAMP directly if they think they qualify\u003c/a>. The air filtration units are certified by the California Air Resources Board, are Energy Star-efficient and are sized for 155-, 230-, 310- and 360-square-foot rooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED's Peter Arcuni contributed reporting to this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With the dual dangers of COVID-19 and raging wildfires, clean air has rarely been more top of mind in California. But many have struggled with an unhealthy breathing environment for years, like those living close to freeways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, some of the Bay Area's most vulnerable may be in for a breath of fresh air with a bit of help from local health officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The Bay Area Air Quality Management District, through a partnership with\u003ca href=\"http://www.rampasthma.org/\"> Regional Asthma Management and Prevention\u003c/a>, or RAMP, will provide home air purifiers to 2,000 lower-income residents in six Bay Area counties who have been diagnosed with asthma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf, speaking Wednesday at the Roots Community Health Center in East Oakland, said the program will help lower-income communities and communities of color.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\"These air filters will not only address air quality, which is being challenged by the wildfire season, but also will lessen the spread of COVID-19, a double benefit for those who have been most impacted,\" Schaaf said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seven Bay Area nonprofits and health organizations that were awarded funds through the Asthma Mitigation Project will distribute the HEPA-grade filters — key to filtering wildfire smoke. Participating counties include Alameda, Contra Costa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara and Sonoma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you don't have time to read our full guide on how to sign up to get a filter, here's the quick version:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>The program focuses on Medi-Cal patients and undocumented people without Medi-Cal. To qualify, eligible clients should have \"moderate to severe\" or \"poorly controlled\" asthma, according to a statement from a BAAQMD spokesperson. The program is for people enrolled in the state's Asthma Mitigation Project.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Officials say interested people who meet those qualifications should contact their health provider and ask about BAAQMD's \"Home Air Filtration Program.\"\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>If you don't have a primary health care provider, contact one of the organizations participating in the program,\u003ca href=\"http://www.rampasthma.org/\"> or RAMP itself\u003c/a>. A full list of those participating organizations \u003ca href=\"https://www.baaqmd.gov/~/media/files/communications-and-outreach/publications/fact-sheets/asthma-mitigation-FAQ_final_080521r_web%20pdf\">can be found here.\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003ch3>How Does the Program Work?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11884337/investigators-probing-pges-possible-link-to-fateful-dixie-fire-drone-flight\">With wildfire season already underway\u003c/a>, nonprofit organizations have been given these air filtration units to distribute to qualifying households.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The aim is to improve breathing conditions at home — especially since wildfire smoke can trigger wheezing and other health impacts in those who experience asthma, emphysema or other respiratory conditions. A clean room with an air filtration unit can offer wildfire smoke relief, health officials say.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Wildfires are increasing in the region and residents with asthma are some of the most vulnerable to the related smoke impacts,” BAAQMD CEO Jack Broadbent said in a statement. The program, Broadbent said, \"can help reduce emergency room visits when air quality becomes unhealthy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When someone signs up for the program and qualifies, the Asthma Mitigation Project will provide in-home visits by community health workers to educate people on asthma self-management and on setting up air filtration units. The program has guides available in English, Spanish, Tagalog, Chinese, Vietnamese and Arabic.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Who Qualifies?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>This program is focused on Medi-Cal patients, particularly children and adults with asthma. You can also qualify if you're an undocumented adult who is not otherwise qualified for Medi-Cal and who has asthma.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The severity classification of asthma, says the Air District, should be \"moderate to severe or poorly controlled.\" That's determined by an asthma-related emergency department visit or a hospitalization, or having had two sick or urgent care asthma-related visits in the past 12 months, or a score of 19 or lower on the Asthma Control Test.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also, you can obtain a recommendation from a licensed physician, nurse practitioner or physician assistant.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>How Can I Sign Up?\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>First and foremost, reach out to your personal physician or health care provider to ask about the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But if that's not an option for you, not to worry: A number of organizations are participating in the program and you can reach out to them directly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here's a list of organizations broken down by county:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Alameda\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"https://acphd.org/contact-acphd/\">The Alameda County Public Health Department\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://rootsclinic.org/locations/\">Roots Community Health Center\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Contra Costa\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"https://cchealth.org/contactcchs/telephone.php\">Contra Costa Health Services\u003c/a>,\u003ca href=\"https://lifelongmedical.org/contact-us/\"> LifeLong Medical Care\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>San Francisco\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"http://www.breathecalifornia.org/affiliates.html\">Breathe California \u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>San Mateo\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"https://www.smchealth.org/contact-us\">San Mateo County Family Health Services\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Santa Clara\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"http://www.breathecalifornia.org/affiliates.html\">Breathe California\u003c/a> (based in San José)\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Sonoma\u003c/strong>: \u003ca href=\"https://srhealth.org/about-us/contact-us/\">Santa Rosa Community Health\u003c/a>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>People can \u003ca href=\"http://www.rampasthma.org/\">also contact RAMP directly if they think they qualify\u003c/a>. The air filtration units are certified by the California Air Resources Board, are Energy Star-efficient and are sized for 155-, 230-, 310- and 360-square-foot rooms.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED's Peter Arcuni contributed reporting to this post.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum. As a non-partisan forum, The Club brings to the public airwaves diverse viewpoints on important topics. The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations and is now podcasting. Our website archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history. This podcast feed is usually updated twice a week and is always un-edited.",
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"order": 9
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"id": "fresh-air",
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"airtime": "SUN 7:30pm-8pm",
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"tagline": "Where conversation and cultura meet",
"info": "What kind of no sabo word is Hyphenación? For us, it’s about living within a hyphenation. Like being a third-gen Mexican-American from the Texas border now living that Bay Area Chicano life. Like Xorje! Each week we bring together a couple of hyphenated Latinos to talk all about personal life choices: family, careers, relationships, belonging … everything is on the table. ",
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"order": 15
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"title": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown",
"tagline": "Lessons from a lifetime in politics",
"info": "The Political Mind of Jerry Brown brings listeners the wisdom of the former Governor, Mayor, and presidential candidate. Scott Shafer interviewed Brown for more than 40 hours, covering the former governor's life and half-century in the political game – and Brown has some lessons he'd like to share. ",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-Political-Mind-of-Jerry-Brown-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 18
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"info": "Latino USA, the radio journal of news and culture, is the only national, English-language radio program produced from a Latino perspective.",
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"marketplace": {
"id": "marketplace",
"title": "Marketplace",
"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 4pm-4:30pm, MON-WED 6:30pm-7pm",
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"source": "American Public Media"
},
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"masters-of-scale": {
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"title": "Masters of Scale",
"info": "Masters of Scale is an original podcast in which LinkedIn co-founder and Greylock Partner Reid Hoffman sets out to describe and prove theories that explain how great entrepreneurs take their companies from zero to a gazillion in ingenious fashion.",
"airtime": "Every other Wednesday June 12 through October 16 at 8pm (repeats Thursdays at 2am)",
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},
"mindshift": {
"id": "mindshift",
"title": "MindShift",
"tagline": "A podcast about the future of learning and how we raise our kids",
"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Mindshift-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
"imageAlt": "KQED MindShift: How We Will Learn",
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"meta": {
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"order": 12
},
"link": "/podcasts/mindshift",
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"google": "https://podcasts.google.com/feed/aHR0cHM6Ly9mZWVkcy5tZWdhcGhvbmUuZm0vS1FJTkM1NzY0NjAwNDI5",
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"morning-edition": {
"id": "morning-edition",
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"info": "\u003cem>Morning Edition\u003c/em> takes listeners around the country and the world with multi-faceted stories and commentaries every weekday. Hosts Steve Inskeep, David Greene and Rachel Martin bring you the latest breaking news and features to prepare you for the day.",
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"onourwatch": {
"id": "onourwatch",
"title": "On Our Watch",
"tagline": "Deeply-reported investigative journalism",
"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/On-Our-Watch-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 11
},
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"on-the-media": {
"id": "on-the-media",
"title": "On The Media",
"info": "Our weekly podcast explores how the media 'sausage' is made, casts an incisive eye on fluctuations in the marketplace of ideas, and examines threats to the freedom of information and expression in America and abroad. For one hour a week, the show tries to lift the veil from the process of \"making media,\" especially news media, because it's through that lens that we see the world and the world sees us",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/on-the-media",
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},
"pbs-newshour": {
"id": "pbs-newshour",
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"info": "Analysis, background reports and updates from the PBS NewsHour putting today's news in context.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/PBS-News-Hour-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/pbs-newshour-full-show/id394432287?mt=2",
"tuneIn": "https://tunein.com/radio/PBS-NewsHour---Full-Show-p425698/",
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},
"perspectives": {
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"order": 14
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"planet-money": {
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"info": "The economy explained. Imagine you could call up a friend and say, Meet me at the bar and tell me what's going on with the economy. Now imagine that's actually a fun evening.",
"airtime": "SUN 3pm-4pm",
"imageSrc": "https://ww2.kqed.org/radio/wp-content/uploads/sites/50/2018/04/planetmoney.jpg",
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},
"link": "/radio/program/planet-money",
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"apple": "https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/planet-money/id290783428?mt=2",
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},
"politicalbreakdown": {
"id": "politicalbreakdown",
"title": "Political Breakdown",
"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
"airtime": "THU 6:30pm-7pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Political-Breakdown-2024-Podcast-Tile-703x703-1.jpg",
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"order": 5
},
"link": "/podcasts/politicalbreakdown",
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"possible": {
"id": "possible",
"title": "Possible",
"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
"airtime": "SUN 2pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/Possible-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.possible.fm/",
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"source": "Possible"
},
"link": "/radio/program/possible",
"subscribe": {
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"spotify": "https://open.spotify.com/show/730YpdUSNlMyPQwNnyjp4k"
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},
"pri-the-world": {
"id": "pri-the-world",
"title": "PRI's The World: Latest Edition",
"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
"airtime": "MON-FRI 2pm-3pm",
"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
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