Opinion ID: 4017919
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Geological activities hearing and order

Text: After issuing its order relating to the environmental activities, the trial court held a hearing over a number of days in February, March, and April 2011, concerning the proposed geological testing. In declarations and testimony, Department employees explained that geological tests were needed on 35 properties in order to determine the suitability of the subsurface of those properties for several alternative potential alignments of surface canals or underground water conveyance tunnels. Two engineering geologists employed by the Department testified in some detail with regard to the testing protocol. For each property, the process would generally begin with a two- or three-day entry to determine, in consultation with the property owner and utility and reclamation district personnel, the best location for the drilling operations, taking into account existing uses of the property and the location of underground utilities. The geologists testified that the sites of the drilling initially suggested by the Department could be adjusted within the proposed alignment of the project, and that the goal would be to find locations for the drilling along existing roads and turnouts in order to minimize any damage or interference with the landowner‘s ongoing uses of the property. Once the optimal sites for drilling were determined, the Department would first conduct ―cone penetrometer testing‖ (CPT) on each of the 35 properties. CPT involves pushing into the ground a long rod that emits signals to determine the subsurface composition of the tested land. The CPT creates a hole that is one and one-half inches in diameter and up to 205 feet in depth, and that is refilled after the rod is withdrawn. The CPT process generally requires four persons and up to four vehicles (including a five-ton or 25-ton CPT truck) and a portable toilet, and is generally completed in a single day. Thus, on properties that the Department proposed to conduct only CPT, the Department‘s proposed geological activities 10 generally would be completed in a total of no more than four working days, including the preliminary identification of the site location. With respect to 28 of the 35 properties, the Department geologists indicated that, in addition to the CPT process, the Department would need to drill additional, larger ―soil borings‖ or ―drill holes‖ that would generally be located within five feet of the CPT hole. The soil borings or drill holes would range from three and seven-tenths to eight inches in diameter, would reach up to 205 feet in depth, and would be refilled once the drilling and retraction of soil for sampling was completed. The geologists testified that the drilling of drill holes generally requires a five-person crew and larger and more equipment than the CPT (generally including a drilling rig, forklift, support trucks, 55-gallon storage drums, a mudbox, and a portable toilet). They further testified that in undertaking this type of drilling the Department would need to use an area of approximately 100 feet by 100 feet as a worksite7 for a period of between five and 10 days (depending upon the depth of the drilling), a period that would include the time for setting up and taking down the drilling rig as well as the actual drilling. Accordingly, with regard to the 28 properties on which both the CTP and drill holes would be conducted, the geological testing activities generally would require the Department to be engaged on each property for no more than a total of 14 working days. The geologists further testified that, with respect to both the CPT and drill holes, the top two to five feet of the holes would be refilled with native topsoil, to restore the surface area as closely as possible to its original condition. In 7 The Department employees testified that the worksite could be stretched alongside a roadway if needed to avoid drilling in fields. 11 accordance with current California regulations, the lower depths of the CPT holes and the drill holes would be refilled with bentonite grout. As described by the geologists, bentonite grout hardens into a type of cement, but because it lacks the aggregate materials (sand and gravel) found in concrete, bentonite grout when hardened is similar in texture to the native subsurface material that it would replace, is soft enough to be shaved with a pen knife, would not interfere with or damage farm machinery, and would not adversely affect the filled land for agricultural or other purposes. The geologists explained that bentonite grout is used in order to provide stability and avoid groundwater contamination. An expert witness testifying on behalf of landowners raised no objection to the Department‘s proposed use of bentonite grout and described such use as ―textbook sealing.‖ After considering the evidence regarding the factual nature and scope of the proposed geological activities as well as briefing by all parties regarding the constitutional issues raised by those proposed activities, the trial court issued an order denying the Department‘s petition as it related to the proposed geological activities. The trial court‘s order relied heavily upon this court‘s 1923 decision in Jacobsen v. Superior Court (1923) 192 Cal. 319 (Jacobsen), which denied a public entity‘s request to conduct somewhat similar drilling activities under an earlier precondemnation entry statute. (We discuss the Jacobsen decision in detail below, post, pp. 20-24.) The trial court acknowledged that the current precondemnation entry and testing statutes were enacted by the Legislature after the Jacobsen decision and include boring among the precondemnation activities explicitly covered by those statutes. Nonetheless, the court denied the order for the following reasons: the current statute does not explicitly state that it is intended to apply to the type of deep drilling involved in Jacobsen and the present case; Jacobsen concluded that such drilling activity would constitute a taking or damaging of property for purposes of the California taking clause; and because the 12 precondemnation entry and testing statutes do not satisfy the requirements of the state takings clause, the precondemnation entry and testing statutes should not be interpreted to authorize this type of drilling activity.