'The Worst Culprits' 

Editor:

Dear Mr. Evans, I always enjoy your NCJ column (Field Notes), it's one of the first things I read. Your recent piece on light pollution is timely and significant ("Light Pollution," Nov. 23). I have lived in Humboldt County since 1970 and on Tuluwat Island (aka Gunther Island or Indian Island) since 1974, where I have watched the steady increase in harbor light pollution. In the mid-1970s, on a winter night, when these islands were still in darkness, I actually observed a dull pink glow low on the northern horizon which lasted about an hour. This was the Aurora Borealis, which has been seen as far south as San Francisco. None of my friends living in the streetlight lit areas of Eureka could see it, but it was clearly observed in a darker Trinidad.

Today (or tonight actually), my house and the three bay islands (zoned natural resource zoning) are bathed in polluting light. The worst culprits are the relatively new unshielded LED lights mounted on buildings along Eureka's waterfront. Areas of these three islands that for years were dark are now brightly illuminated, as is the interior of my old house.

The Humboldt Bay Harbor District is advocating for "high mast" LED lighting at the proposed Samoa Heavy Lift Terminal site on the Samoa Peninsula. By my calculations, this lighting will be visible 19 miles offshore. This excessive and poorly planned lighting wreaks havoc with nocturnal seabirds and mammals, as well as migrating land birds.

Most times, folks that advocate for proper shielding and low wattage lighting get branded as anti-development, when, in fact, properly designed exterior lighting can be energy saving and star gazer friendly.

Thanks for your skilled and informative writing.

Ken Bates, Eureka