Typical Grow
The troubles associated with marijuana grown with the use of fossil fuel were covered by
SoHum blogger Kym Kemp
in a
Journal
story titled “
After Hacker Cree
k.” The diesel dope issue hits the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors tomorrow as a group of concerned citizens led by Robert “The Man Who Walks in the Woods” Sutherland lay things out in a PowerPoint presentation. Here’s Robert’s press release announcement and some of the photos they’ll be showing the Supes:
Friends!
On this Tuesday December 9th at 11 am your neighbors will present a program to the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors about diesel in the hills.
This is an account of the local marijuana industry, its history and its adverse environmental impacts, with examples of possible environmental safeguards that are within the authority of the Board. A slide show featuring adverse impacts will accompany.
The Board will be taking no action and this is informational only. We expect there will be no formal opportunity for public input at this time.
Speakers are slated to include long-time southern Humboldt residents Jesse Hill, Robert Sutherland (The man who walks in the woods), and Tyce Fraser. Joining the presentation from Mendocino County is the widely recognized authority Jim Harrison.
Representatives from the Division of Environmental Health, the Sheriff’s Department, and the Department of Fish and Game have been invited to attend.
Over the course of many years marijuana cultivation in northern California has transitioned away from “mom-and-pop” growers to large scale industrial operations featuring indoor growing under powerful lights. These lights are most often powered by large diesel generators which require large amounts of fuel and frequent changes of lubricating oil.
Generators
Occasionally diesel fuel is accidentally spilled, sometimes in large amounts, or frequently it leaks from poor connections. Crankcase oil is waste and often is dumped into the environment with serious long term consequences.
Dump Hole
Humboldt County has engaged in an educational campaign to alert all diesel fuel users to the associated dangers. For example, the County points out that as little as about one teaspoon of diesel in 25 gallons of water will kill half of the fish exposed to it. Regarding leaks, they advise that two drops per second adds up to 84 gallons a month. They add that one quart of used motor oil can contaminate 250,000 gallons of water. Crankcase oil is particularly insidious because of toxic heavy metals it contains, among other reasons. Oil dumps may remain undetected by inspectors or law enforcement.
Hacker Creek
Calculations of the amounts of diesel consumed in marijuana grow operations show it to be a major contributor to serious air pollution and to global warming. These are among the impacts which will be noted in the presentation. There are many other associated problems, such as noise pollution and the use of toxic chemicals.
Waste Oil Filter Storage
A more immediate fear for most rural residents is the threat posed by grow fires. The fuel and large generators and their associated wiring results in frequent fires. According to fire authorities, seventy to ninety percent of rural structure fires are marijuana grows. This fact does not show up in formal records because firefighters are obligated to retain discrete good relations to all the rural public. Yet, according to knowledgeable authorities, it is just a matter of time before one of these frequent fires becomes catastrophic, destroying lives and widespread property.
Generator that caught fire
Because of the pervasive nature of this major industry – virtually no town or watershed is unknown to it – it occupies much of the social fabric and is one of the most important contributors to the economy. Yet, we feel that illegal does not have to mean irresponsible.
Solar Grow
We seek to work with County government and hopefully all other elements of the community to reduce the adverse environmental threat posed by this industry. We need to find ways that include in a positive way all those many who are experts at living outside the law. Present approaches are unnecessarily cumbersome and clearly have not worked. We believe that in addition to specific educational outreach there needs to be a carrot-and-stick approach that encourages that sound practices can be adopted by everyone.
We hope you will attend our presentation. Please remember that new security measures at the Courthouse mean you must leave any pocket knives or similar objects in your car, and you will need to allow extra time for the screening.
Contact: Robert Sutherland – woods [at] asis [dot] com
This article appears in Glasnost.
[…] Diesel Dope for Supes […]
How this is not seen as a bad thing in the community is beyond me, what happened to the environmentalists…where is Harmony Groves now with her ‘free the weed’ policies?
Looks like a fire trap to me.
[…] presentation of anti diesel activists to the Humboldt CO. Board of Supervisors can be found here, here, and […]
This doesn’t need to be an environmentalist vs drug-warrior argument, and attempts to make it so only reveal the lack of depth and shameful self-interest burrowed deeply in local politics.
no wonder people don’t (refuse to?) recognize the white privilege that exists in pot growing communities. they can’t even see the environmental drawbacks.
Maybe the trendsetters in the pot smoking community need to make field grown pot the “in” thing to smoke, like shade grown coffee. A friend tells me the clinics only want indoor weed. Shame on them.
Pot smokers are down to earth, concerned primarily about how high they can get not where it came from.
According to Eric Heimstadt, director of HMS in Arcata, field grown doesn’t meet “medical grade” quality because it has excessive amounts of mildew and molds. He cites scientific studies done in the Neatherlands.
Of course, if you’re only wanting to get high then outdoor grown works just fine, thank you.
Well if you want to take it down to the homeopathic level. I am sure the outdoor product grown in real sunlight is best suited to harmonize with our bodies which also need the light of our sun.
The whole point is not to wastefully use fossil fuels on something that can be grown either outdoors or in a greenhouse. And that’s where the selfishness and greed come into play. Are we really mature enough as a species to clean up our act and limit CO2 emissions? I remain optimistic.
Here’s the full text of my presentation to the board:
“I’ve lived here since 1970 and I’ve seen the evolution of the marijuana industry. In the early 1980’s, I saw one of the first indoor grow scenes and I thought to myself: “This is stupid, and it’s never going to work.” Turns out, I was only half right…..
There are many stupid industries that are highly profitable to a few while harmful to all. But, unlike other industries, this one is completely underground and therefore unregulated. There are points, however, where indoor pot production overlaps legitimate county businesses, and the largest of those are fuel suppliers and PG&E. In a case where deliveries are being made to unregistered tanks at obvious indoor grows, or where PG&E hooks up a second meter to accommodate outrageous power consumption at a residential household, these companies are cooperating with and profiting from illegal operations.
Law enforcement has proven ineffective as a deterrent; in fact funding of CAMP in the 80’s was precisely what caused many growers to shift to indoor production. Ironically, the pot industry is the only thing buffering the county from the current economic downturn. 100% effective eradication would collapse the local economy, yet to ignore this polluting industry is to allow serious environmental damage. Of all the dangers presented so far (fuel spills, improper disposal of crank case oil, air and noise pollution in rural areas, lack of housing and home invasion robberies in urban and suburban areas, and fires everywhere), in my mind the greatest threat of all is global climate change caused by the burning of fossil fuels.
At this point, I’d like to propose a narrowly focused carbon tax on all diesel deliveries to unregistered tanks. It is illegal to deliver more than 660 gallons to an unregistered tank, a law that’s currently not enforced. One way to seek compliance is to impose a 20-25% carbon tax on fuel deliveries to those tanks, encouraging legitimate users to register their tanks and creating a financial penalty for illegal use. Similarly, a 20-25% tax on residential utility bills that exceed $1000 per month would be a disincentive to large indoor grows on the grid.
This is a rare case where a large tax increase would be supported by the majority of citizens. The revenues collected could range from a few million to tens of millions annually, maybe more. The revenues could be allocated between critical infrastructure like schools and roads, as well as developing carbon offsetting projects, like trail networks, alternative energy systems, and public transit.
These measures would help us kick our fossil fuel addiction in general, would create jobs that will benefit both the environment and local economy.
In closing I feel a carbon tax could do four things: 1) Increase county funding in a time of decreasing revenue; 2) create quality green jobs; 3) decrease the wasteful practice of using fossil fuels to grow marijuana; and 4) lead the way in planning for a more sustainable future. I’d like to point out that this is not just a sourthern Humboldt problem, this is a problem in Eureka and Arcata and in Mendocino, as you’ll see in Jim Harrison’s slide show, but it is more than that: scientists now believe that the co2 that is released today will effect the global climate for thousands of years. The need for immediate action cannot be overstated.”