Synopsis: The first official draft of an environmental impact report on PG&E's proposed deep-sea seismic studies related to faults near the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant is being planned for public release in January. It will help determine if local fishers are right in expecting severe impacts of the seismic studies on local fisheries.
In the midst of many fishers voicing alarm over what they believe will be devastating impacts to fisheries from San Luis Bay to Cambria, the first official environmental impact report on PG&E's proposed deep-water seismic studies of faults that could affect the safety of the Diablo Canyon nuclear plant is tentatively being planned for release in draft form in January by the California State Lands Commission.
It is the lead agency among fifteen others overseeing the studies designed to identify faults that could disrupt and possibly cause a disaster at the plant and the release of widespread radioactivity in this area and likely far beyond.
A public hearing on the draft environmental report (DEIR) also is being planned for an unannounced date in February in San Luis Obispo. PG&E is planning to conduct the seismic studies in the fall of 2012. A significant portion of the studies would be conducted near Morro Bay, one Commission report said.
The Commission has been reviewing the proposed seismic studies project for the better part of 2011, and, Cy R. Oggins, chief of the Commission's
Environmental Planning and Management division, said the Commission is still getting details of project from PG&E.
Commission staff has already recognized the potential for environmental impacts from the seismic studies. In its notice of preparation of the DEIR, the Commission noted that ever since 1987, there has been "mounting evidence of the potentially significant effects of 'high-energy' survey equipment . . . on marine fish (including eggs and larvae), mammals, and reptiles, both behaviorally and physiologically . . . "
The project is described this way by the notice of DEIR preparation:
"Central Coastal California Seismic Imaging Project (CCCSIP or Project). Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) proposes to conduct a high-energy offshore seismic survey to better characterize various fault zones in the vicinity of the Diablo Canyon Power Plant (DCPP) . . . "
It points out that PG&E has been directed to conduct the survey by the California Energy Commission (CEC) as required by Assembly Bill 1632, authored by Senator Sam Blakeslee. The legislation was enacted in 2006.
"The proposed CCCSIP will be conducted on the shoreline and within the nearshore and offshore (~400 meter depth) marine waters between Cambria and San Luis Bay . . . traversing both State and federal waters.
"The Project proposed by PG&E would implement the recommendations of the CEC and the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) by conducting deep, high-energy seismic surveys of the various fault zones, particularly the intersections of fault lines, in the vicinity of the (the plant). PG&E proposes to conduct the Project, which consists of the following components, between September and November, 2012."
One phase of the project consists of an "Offshore High-Energy Seismic Survey — Conducting a high-energy offshore seismic survey in two zones, totaling approximately 830 square kilometers near Morro Bay. The survey will be conducted using a geophysical vessel, assisted by support/monitoring vessels, towing a series of sound-generating air guns and sound-recording hydrophones . . . "
Another phase would involve "Nearshore Seismic Data Collection — Deploying a grid of nodal seafloor geophones in the near shore and tidal areas off of Point Buchon and Point San Luis to record onshore and offshore sound signals."
The State Lands Commission has these options in acting on the DEIR: approve it, reject it, or postpone it and propose revisions, Oggins said.
The Commission's draft EIR preparation notice said "several recent developments have also increased agency and public interest in a deeper seismic evaluation of the region surrounding (the plant) and support for the prompt completion of a 3-D mapping project. In 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), working cooperatively with PG&E, discovered a new fault zone (since named, "Shoreline") offshore of (the plant) . . . (On March 11), 2011, the partial meltdown of Japan's Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant occurred following a magnitude 9.0 earthquake and subsequent tsunami."
Radioactivity released by the Fukushima disaster is spreading widely, reaching the shore of the state of Washington recently. For more information, go to Star Advertiser or BC_Tsunami_Debris_Tofino.
