For Immediate Release: Wednesday, January 8, 2014
Contact: Steve Hopcraft 916/457-5546; steve@hopcraft.com; Twitter: @shopcraft; @MrSandHillCrane; Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla 209/479-2053 barbara@restorethedelta.org;
Twitter: @RestoretheDelta
Peripheral Tunnels Opponents Call for Additional Time to Respond to Massive $67 Billion BDCP Plan
STOCKTON, CA – Restore the Delta, opponents of Gov. Brown’s Peripheral Tunnels that would drain the Delta and doom salmon and other Pacific fisheries, today called for the Brown Administration to extend the time for citizens to comment on the massive Environmental Impact Report/Environmental Impact Statement (EIR/EIS) for the project.
Restore the Delta Executive Director Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said:
“The Brown Administration is providing citizens insufficient time to respond to its nearly 40,000-page project proposal. It is impossible to fully review the massive EIR/EIS documents in just 85 working days. That would require reviewing and analyzing more than 473 pages per workday, every week. This is not achievable for public interest organizations. With the tax burden and water resources at stake, it is imperative to take the time to get this project right. We call for an additional 120 days for public review and comment.
“Federal regulations intend that proposals for complex projects be less than 300 pages. The Brown Administration is drowning the public in propaganda, supported by an army of flacks and state employees. We cannot be expected to provide expert comment in 85 working days to a document of this mammoth size.”