For Immediate Release: 10/6/2016
Contact:
Brian Smith, 415-320-9384, [email protected]
Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Restore the Delta, 209-479-2053
Will promised “new jobs” go to foreign companies?
Stockton – State agencies claiming the Delta Tunnels (CA WaterFix) will create jobs for Californians are participating in an International Tunneling conference in Los Angeles called “Cutting Edge” November 6-9.
The conference announcement declares:
“…California’s tunneling industry is booming. In 2016, the fifth annual Cutting Edge Conference will convene in Los Angeles to look at the latest advances in tunneling technology and methodology and how they can be harnessed to assist the region’s major upcoming underground projects.”
The invitation email notes:
“Among the many organisations [sic – British spelling] in attendance will be: …California Water Fix”
Restore the Delta, executive director, Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla said:
“A chance to get a contract for a $17 billion project has attracted many international firms to sponsor this conference. State and Metropolitan Water District officials will surely get wined-and-dined, but we think their international suitors should know the Delta Tunnels are as real as a day at Disneyland.
“The Delta Tunnels have received none of the required state or federal permits, and the project has no finance plan. Water ratepayers and California taxpayers don’t want the tunnels, and agricultural districts cannot afford the tunnels. The project lacks a completed biological opinion, and has been rejected twice by the EPA.
“Why are state agencies seeking international contractors for a project that was supposed to create jobs for Californians? Are agencies also seeking international funding for a project that was to be paid for by California water districts? Are our water resources for sale on the international market? Californians would like to know.”
Like the Oakland Bay Bridge. Chinese made. Defective bolts, Sealing of threaded surfaces. Cost to taxpayers for a shorten life and continual maintenance. This tunnel will go to foreign companies and kill off job chances by inviting non local companies to bid at the exclusion of local companies. The water diversion will allow salt water intrusion to the delta and contaminate local water and farm land. The water depletion and contamination will kill off the creatures at the bottom of the food chain and collapse the remaining fishing for the north coast. The delta is the nursery for food stocks for our remaining harvestable fish.
It looks like a peaceful protest against the Delta tunnels outside this conference is in order.
-Stop the tunnels! It is a ridiculous idea that will lead to destruction of the Delta ecosytem for all time.
– The cost of the tunnel system will end up being dumped on the taxpayers or sold to the highest foreign bidders. Neither is satisfactory.
-Jobs created in California need to be given to American citizens and not foreign workers.
-Our water should not be for sale to any commercial entity.
-Invest in an infrastructure in Southern California that will create new freshwater reservoirs. Our state would have plenty of water if the rains from times of el Nino were not wasted but instead are captured.