UNITED STATES ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY 

REGION IX 

AVENAL ENERGY PROJECT 

PSD PERMIT (SJ 08-01) 

Docket No. EPA-R09-OAR-2009-0438 

DOCKET SECTION OR ITEM: OTHER

DOCUMENT: Excerpts from Transcript of Meeting between Administrator Jackson and 

Regional Administrator Blumenfeld with members of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition. 

DATE: March 23, 2011 

DESCRIPTION: The following document contains excerpts from a transcript prepared by EPA 

of the March 23, 2011 meeting between Administrator Lisa Jackson and Regional Administrator 

Jared Blumenfeld and members of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition (CVAQ) that took 

place in Fresno, CA. Only sections of the transcript that are specific to the Avenal permit have 

been included. Text not specific to the Avenal permit is not included, as indicated with ellipses. 

 
March 23, 2011 Meeting of Administrator Jackson and Regional Administrator 

Blumenfeld with members of the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition 

NOTES, April 12, 2011 

Facilitators: Catherine Garoupa White, Director, CVAQ and Sarah Sharpe, Fresno 

Metro Ministry 

Venue: West Side Church of God, Fresno, CA 

. . . 

Catherine Garoupa White Thank you, Pastor Binion and thank you for allowing us to 

use your facility today. Good afternoon. My name is Catherine and I am the Director of 

the Central Valley Air Quality Coalition. CVAQ is a coalition of more than 70 diverse and 

dynamic member organizations of all sizes from all across the San Joaquin valley. I 

want to acknowledge and thank the member organizations that helped plan for and set 

up this meeting today and who help us thrive as a coalition and be successful in our 

struggle for clean air for the San Joaquin Valley. As a coalition we strive for a consensus 

based decision making model. When we take a position as CVAC it’s something that 

our members have bought into and agreed to but at the same time we also respect the 

autonomy of our member organizations that they all have the right to express 

themselves and use whatever tactics they feel are most appropriate. We like to 

distinguish what we do as a coalition based on consensus with what our member 

organizations do in taking their own positions and their own take on these issues. As 

the Administrators probably noted on their tour today, we have a very severe public 

health crisis in the Valley related to our air pollution problem, and it’s typically borne by 

our most vulnerable populations in the Valley. It’s a serious issue, it’s a complicated 

issue. It comes from many different sources and we really need the help of agencies 

like the EPA to clean up our problem. Our intent is to highlight 5 main concerns with a 

bit of open space for all of you that have come that are not assigned speaking roles to 

be able to share your own stories and concerns. We are on a very tight agenda with a 

very limited amount of time. Please be respectful of our agenda and keep your 

comments to a minimum and look to Dolores for time keeping. We’ve committed to 

collect comments from you all and forward them to the Administrator. 

. . . 

There are 5 priorities that we are going to be talking about today, and you’ll be hearing 

from people who live in communities specifically dealing with these issues. Sarah asked 

for participants to stand to reflect support with the demands. 

1. Demand that EPA rescind illegal exemptions for the Avenal power plant, revoke the 

proposed permit and issue a permit denial. 

2. . . . 

3. . . . 
4. . . . 

5. . . . 

. . . 

Several groups of CVAQ members spoke in turn. 

The first group spoke about Priorities #1 and #2: Demand that EPA rescind illegal 

exemptions for the Avenal power plant, revoke the proposed permit and issue a permit 

denial. . . 

Rey Leon My name is Rey Leon, Director and Founder of the Valley Latino 

Environmental Advancement Project. It’s a pleasure to have you here today, and we 

hope the dialogue continues. We need you to really listen to us and support the cry that 

we have in this region. I’m from the west side of the valley where the biggest pockets 

of lack of air quality monitoring exist. We also have that also on the West side of the 

Fresno area, west side of 99, there is no air quality monitoring. There are many 

reasons why we think that is so. People of color live in the West side of Fresno, west of 

99. We are shipping in 20 tons of garbage per day from LA County. I have family in 

Avenal. The biggest issue for Avenal residents is the Avenal power plant. 500 tons of 

criteria pollutants per day will make existing problems worse. Farm workers do not have 

health insurance. They do not have the money to pay for asthma medication. It’s 

difficult and we need your help. We were happy when you came on board but we are 

becoming disillusioned. We’re making changes from the grassroots with solar power. 

We don’t need that power plant. We have a 10 mw solar farm in Avenal. We are the 

offspring of the civil rights movement and we need your help. We have the highest 

asthma rates in the nation, most polluted basin and the greatest poverty. Those are 

the most vulnerable and are greatly impacted by bad decisions. Let’s respect the Clean 

Air Act. Let’s respect environmental justice. Let’s respect the working class people of 

this region. Let’s rescind that decision. Let’s not allow that power plant to get built. 

We ask you that action and we know you can do it. 

Maricela Mares Alatorre I’m a resident of Kettleman City, I’ve lived there for 32 

years. I’m a member of People for Clean Air and Water of Kettleman City and I work 

for Greenaction for Health and Environmental Justice. My parents are founders of the 

group People for Clean Air and Water over 20 years ago when they fought an 

incinerator. I’d like to ask you a question: Is it legal for Spanish speakers to get half 

the speaking time vs. a white person shipped in from over 50 miles away at a hearing 

on the expansion of Chem Waste? 

Lisa Jackson I don’t think it’s fair that a community member not get heard at a 

community meeting.

Maricela Mares Alatorre My town is 98% Latino with a lot of monolingual Spanish 
speaking. My dad understands English but only speaks Spanish. He’s a US citizen. 

He’s been here 40 years. My dad was dragged out of a public meeting by 8 policemen 

in front of his grandchildren for daring to ask for translation and for equal time to 

speak. 

We have a lot of problems in Kettleman City. This is Kettleman City water. We don’t 

drink this water. It’s contaminated with benzene and arsenic. This is the water that my 

children bathe in. This is the water that they brush their teeth with. Some politician 

could really make a difference for us by providing clean and safe water. We have the 

biggest toxic waste landfill in the West, pesticides, diesel emissions, composting, and 

biosolids sludge from LA that’s applied in fields in our backyards. Even with the 

investigation into birth defects, and the confirmation of a high number of contamination 

sources around us, no one has come to fix this drinking water problem. My child 

bathes in this water and brushes her teeth with this water. Do you think this is right? 

Lisa Jackson I wouldn’t let my children drink contaminated water. 

Maricela Mares Alatorre We are also asking you to rescind the power plant permit. 

We don’t think it’s legal. It’s another thing that’s going to be attacking us. We’re 

already living in a toxic soup. EPA’s really good at making laws to protect people; 

they’re just not really good at following them. 

Maura Mares Alatorre 

Good afternoon, Mrs. Jackson. My name is Maura Alatorre. I represent the mothers of 

Kettleman City and I’m one of the mothers whose child was born with a defect. Before 

I tell you about myself, I want to welcome you and it’s a pleasure to meet you. It is 

very painful a child with a deformity. We are Christians and we take care of ourselves. 

It’s painful to see how people look at my child. He’s starting school soon. It is more 

painful to know that nobody is doing anything to help us. He’s had surgery but the 

defect is still noticeable. It’s very painful to see that he’s not normal like other people. I 

feel incompetent and a failure as a mom because I cannot give my children a good 

future with clean air and water. We cannot move because my husband’s job is here and 

it is hard to find other jobs. My son was born in 2008, he’s now three. In 2009 my 

daughter developed asthma. She’s five. I am begging your help so we can have better 

air quality. You have the power to give our children a good future. By not signing the 

permits for the expansion that will be enough help. Take my words in your memory 

and remember our children. Remember Emmanuel. I’m begging you in the name of 

those children that are deceased, don’t sign those permits. 

Bradley Angel 

My name is Bradley Angel and I’m the executive director of Greenaction for Health and 

Environmental Justice. I want to express my deep disappointment that EPA wouldn’t 

meet with us with the media. I guess if I had illegally approved an Avenal power plant 

permit next to a community with so many birth defects, I wouldn’t want the media in 
here either. In 2007, EPA issued the most ridiculous document EPA has ever put out 

saying that everything was all right in Kettleman City. In response, we did a door to 

door health survey and found the birth defects. We’re also hearing about a lot of 

miscarriages now. What do you do? A few weeks ago you overrule your own agency 

and violate your own agency’s promise to uphold EJ. It was your agency that publicly 

stated that Kettleman City was a litmus test for EJ. And what do you do? You add a 

600 megawatt fossil fuel power plant. I cannot understand what you’re doing and we’re 

going to fight you. 

I’m so glad you said a few minutes ago that it doesn’t sound right for people who spoke 

Spanish to get less time to testify at a Kings County hearing on Chem Waste. And 

when people objected, we were threatened with arrest. It’s in the transcript. In June 

of last year, your agency was given a civil rights complaint and your agency has done 

nothing with it. Seventeen years ago, our civil rights complaint was filed, because 100 

percent of the hazardous waste landfills in California are in Latino, Spanish speaking 

communities. This is racism that would make the Ku Klux Klan proud. 

When I heard about Avenal permit, I had just been asked by EPA’s Office of Civil Rights 

for information for my complaint to spent hours and days finding that information, but 

does civil rights mean anything at EPA? If civil rights really matters to you, then revoke 

the Avenal decision and deny not just the PCB permit but all the permits for Chem 

Waste. Deny the permits. Protect people, not polluters. 

. . . 

The last group spoke about Priority #5: . . . 

EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson 

. . . 

We have a commitment to science and the law. I take seriously allegations that we are 

acting illegally. I don’t take them lightly and I don’t agree with them and I imagine that 

we will have our day in court to hear those cases out. We will make decisions that 

follow science and the law. 

Of the issues you raised, Avenal is the toughest of them. . . . 

One of the things we’ve said all along: even in the one hour NO2 standard that is at 

issue in the Avenal permit, we believe monitoring did not reflect reality on the ground. 

We’ve moved money in the president’s budget to get more monitoring to get realistic 

numbers and data on air quality near roadways. The monitors are not located where 

they could pick up a problem with the one hour standard. We are not done, but we are 

not moving away from this table. 

. . . 
On Avenal, the law is tough. That permit was deemed to be complete years before the 

standard came out. And at some point, we must look at a case and determine whether 

or not we would win it or lose it on its merits. It is a matter of looking at a judge who 

almost certainly was going to give us a decision that said you must make a decision 

quickly and you must recognize that your own agency deemed the application complete 

two years ago. But we’re going to go back and look at it. 

. . . 

INDIVDUAL SPEAKERS 

The following speakers signed up in advance for an opportunity to speak. . . . 

Catherine Garoupa White 

We request as follow up that a page be established on EPA’s website where we can get 

updates on our five demands and that EPA appoint a staffer for each demand. 

. . . 

MEETING CONCLUDES