PDB Meeting – Monday, June 18th, 7:00 pm

Membership meeting Mon. June 18th, 7:00 pm

Dona Benicia Room of the Benicia Library


PRESS RELEASE June 7, 2018:

Benicia Dems to Discuss Local Industries

Two major industry-related projects are up for discussion at the next general membership meeting of the Progressive Democrats of Benicia, who will meet at the Benicia Library in the Dona Benicia Room at 7:00 p.m. on June 18. The meeting is open to the public.

On the agenda for the local group of Democrats is an overview of how the proposed Benicia industrial Safety Ordinance, or ISO, should provide “a seat at the table” for community members, including air monitoring and emergency response.  Since the near catastrophic Valero event May 5, 2017 and several weeks of flaring, a Benicia group of community activists have:

  • convened a panel of state and county experts about public safety,
  • provided information to the public on why Benicia needs an ISO,
  • met with the City Manager and Council members to listen and present the need, and
  • discussed what should be in the ISO.

The group will discuss an upcoming presentation to City Council, scheduled for June 19th, which will request that Council direct staff to consider the working group’s ISO proposal that includes air monitoring and fees to pay for the city staff and experts.

The proposed Orcem cement factory in Vallejo is the second industry item on the Progressive Dem’s program for June 18. According to the revised Project Description, which is still under review by the City of Vallejo, Orcem’s project consists of two main components: the Vallejo Marine Terminal and the Orcem cement factory, on the site of the old General Mills plant. The marine terminal component would reestablish industrial uses on the existing marine terminal site and include construction of wharf improvements and trucking and rail connections. The cement factory would involve construction and operation of an industrial facility for primarily the production of an alternative for traditional Portland cement. According to Orcem, it would import most of the raw materials used in the manufacturing process via ships docking at the marine terminal’s proposed wharf reconstruction and enhancements.

Concerns expressed about the Orcem project include analyses that show the dust produced from the cement factory would blow directly into much of South Vallejo and Mare Island, and that the plant’s proposed site is near multiple apartment complexes, single-family homes, and an elementary school and a college. Opponents also question whether increased truck traffic would result on the roads adjacent to and in and out of the proposed factory and rebuilt marine terminal, thereby increasing local air pollution in the adjoining community.

The Progressive Democrats of Benicia is a local club of Benicians with members also from Vallejo and Fairfield. PDB’s mission includes the election and appointment of public officials who encourage and promote progressive views, and issues and projects that support and protect the Benicia and Solano County communities. For more information on PDB you can visit its web site at https://progressivedemocratsofbenicia.org/ or contact Ralph Dennis at 502-523-2872.

Breaking news about the proposed Benicia Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO)

Council will meet on Tuesday, June 19.  Be there if you can!  Lots of info from the Benicia Independent below. Background and documentation at beniciaindependent.com/iso/

CALL TO ACTION: BENICIA CITY COUNCIL AGENDA & IMPORTANT ISO DOCUMENTS – JUNE 19, 2018

JUNE 15, 2018 by Roger Straw
Staff for the City of Benicia posted an agenda and multiple important attachments for the June 19 City Council meeting yesterday – see links far below on this page. Most important are a 32-page Draft Industrial Safety Ordinance prepared and submitted by a local citizens’ ISO Working Group under the sure hand of … Continue reading →


MAYOR PATTERSON’S REQUEST FOR COUNCIL ACTION ON ISO

JUNE 15, 2018, Excerpt from Mayor Patterson’s E-Alert
I believe we need to have a seat at the table, the public’s right to know and air monitors to restore the public trust that we are putting health, safety and welfare at the top. I am asking the … Continue reading→


MAKING SENSE OF AIR MONITORING (PART 1)

JUNE 15, 2018, Repost from the Benicia Herald, by the Benicia ISO Working Group
Most of the time, you cannot see dirty air – for example you can’t see particulates.  We know that particulates increase the age-specific mortality risk, particularly from cardiovascular causes. In fact, epidemiological studies suggest public … Continue reading →


BENICIA HERALD: SECOND STEP OF INDUSTRIAL SAFETY ORDINANCE PROCESS ON COUNCIL AGENDA

JUNE 15, 2018 Repost from the Benicia Herald by Nick Sestanovich
More than a year after the Benicia City Council approved the first step in a two-step process to consider bringing an Industrial Safety Ordinance (ISO) to Benicia, the council will resume its discussion Tuesday … Continue reading→


BENICIA ISO IN A NUTSHELL

MAY 14, 2018 By Roger Straw
Benicia needs an Industrial Safety Ordinance – 3 important points to be made: 1.  We don’t know what is in the air, and we have asthma rates three times the state average. We need air monitors NOW, and state/regional regulations will be slow in coming. 2. ISO is budget neutral for the City. … Continue reading →

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