### UNITED STATES ENVIRONMEN TAL 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 Ai r 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 Administra tor 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 transcri pt that are specific to the Avenal permit have been included. Text not specific to the Avenal permit is not incl uded, as indicated with ellipses.

### March 23, 2011 Meeting of Administrator Jackson and Regional Ad ministrator

Blumenfeld with members of the C entral Valley Air Quality Coali tion

NOTES, April 12, 2011

Facilitators: Catherine Garoupa White, Direct or, 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 Co alition. CVAQ is a coalition of more than 70 diverse and dynamic member organizations of all sizes from all across the Sa n Joaquin valley. I want to acknowledge and than k the member organizations th at helped plan for and set up this meeting today and who help us thrive as a coalit ion 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 th at they all have the right to express themselves and use whatever tactics they feel are most approp riate. We like to distinguish what we do as a coalition ba sed on consensus with what our member organizations do in taking their own positi ons and their own take on these issues. As the Administrators probably noted on their to ur 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 population s in the Valley. It’s a seriou s 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 pr oblem. Our intent is to high light 5 main concerns with a bit of open space for all of you that have co me that are not assign ed speaking roles to be able to share your own st ories and concerns. We are on a very tight agenda with a very limited amount of time. Please be respectful of our agen da and keep your

comments to a minimum and l ook to Dolores for time k eeping. We’ve committed to collect comments from you all and forw ard 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 re flect 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: De mand that EPA rescind illegal exemptions for the Avenal powe r 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 pl easure 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 wh ere 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 monitori ng. 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 to ns of garbage per day from LA County. I have family in Avenal. The biggest issue for Av enal residents is the Avenal power plant. 500 tons of criteria pollutants per day wi ll make existing problems wors e. 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 he lp. We were happy when you came on board but we are becoming disillusioned. We’re making change s 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 gr eatest poverty. Those are the most vulnerable and are gr eatly impacted by bad decision s. Let’s respect the Clean Air Act. Let’s respect environmental justice. Let’s respect the wo rking class people of this region. Let’s rescind th at decision. Let’s not allow that power plant to get built. We ask you that action an d 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 Peop le for Clean Air and Water of Kettleman City and I work

for Greenaction for Health an d Environmental Justice. My parents are founders of the group People for Clean Air and Water ove r 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 fa ir that a community member not get heard at a community meeting.

Maricela Mares Alatorre My town is 98% Latino with a lot of monolingual Spanishspeaking. My dad understands English but only speaks Spanis h. He’s a US citizen. He’s been here 40 years. My dad was dragge d 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 Kettl eman City water. We don’t

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

children bathe in. This is the water that th ey brush their teeth with. Some politician could really make a difference for us by pr oviding 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 backyard s. Even with the investigation into birth defect s, 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 thin k this is right?

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

Maricela Mares Alatorre We are also asking you to re scind the power plant permit. We don’t think it’s legal. It’s another th ing that’s going to be attacking us. We’re already living in a toxi c 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 repr esent the mothers of Kettleman City and I’m one of the mothers wh ose 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 defo rmity. We are Christians and we take care of ourselves. It’s painful to see how people look at my chil d. He’s starting school soon. It is more painful to know that nobody is doing anythi ng 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 failur e 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 powe r to give our childre n a good future. By not signing the permits for the expansion that will be enough he lp. Take my word s in your memory

and remember our children. Remember Emma nuel. 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 disappointmen t 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 bi rth defects, I wouldn’t want the media inhere either. In 2007, EPA i ssued the most ridiculous do cument EPA has ever put out saying that everything was all right in Kettl eman City. In response, we did a door to door health survey and found the birth def ects. We’re also hearing about a lot of miscarriages now. What do you do? A fe w weeks ago you overrule your own agency and violate your own agency’s promise to uphold EJ. It wa s your agency that publicly stated that Kettleman City wa s a litmus test for EJ. And what do you do? You add a 600 megawatt fossil fuel power pl ant. I cannot understand wh at you’re doing and we’re going to fight you.

I’m so glad you said a few mi nutes 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 transcri pt. In June of last year, your agency was given a civil rights complaint and yo ur agency has done nothing with it. Seventeen ye ars ago, our civil rights co mplaint was filed, because 100 percent of the hazardous waste landfills in California are in Latino, Spanish speaking

communities. This is racism that wo uld make the Ku Klux Klan proud. When I heard about Avenal perm it, I had just been asked by EPA’s Office of Civil Rights for information for my complain t to spent hours and days fi nding that information, but does civil rights mean anything at EPA? If ci vil rights really matters to you, then revoke the Avenal decision and deny not just the PCB permit bu t 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 scienc e and the law. I take seriou sly 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, Aven al is the toughest of them.

. . .

One of the things we’ve said a ll 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 pres ident’s budget to get more monitoring to get realistic numbers and data on air qua lity near roadways. The moni tors 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 deci sion that said you mu st make a decision quickly and you must recognize that your ow n agency deemed the application complete two years ago. But we’re goin g to go back and look at it.

. . .

INDIVDUAL SPEAKERS The following speakers signed up in ad vance for an opportunity to speak.

. . .

Catherine Garoupa White We request as follow up that a page be es tablished on EPA’s website where we can get updates on our five demands and that EPA appoint a staffer for each demand.

. . .

MEETING CONCLUDES