Transit Corridor Alternatives Analysis Online Open House Now Open

You have until May 11, 2020 to let the RTC know yet again what you think about how the rail corridor could be used to best-address the traffic congestion our County had faced until recently. We all hope that the economic stability of the region will return soon, and support public transportation into the future.

IS A TREATED SEWAGE WATER INJECTION WELL COMING TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD?
If you live in Aptos, the Soquel Creek Water District may be planning to inject millions of gallons of treated sewage water into the groundwater near your drinking water source and the County Environmental Health Dept. will not be concerned and will ask no questions while granting the new well permits to the District.  If you live near these projects, contact the District and County Environmental Health now.

Soquel Creek Water District Board <bod@soquelcreekwater.org>

Environmental Health Services: Nathan Salazar<nathan.salazar@santacruzcounty.us>   and John Ricker<john.ricker@santacruzcounty.us>

Soquel Creek Water District has their three injection well projects out for bid right now.  My inquiries with the Santa Cruz County Health Dept. is that the District has not applied for permits for two of the three new wells, and that will be left to the contractor to do so.  The County will NOT consider whether or not there are other private wells or small water company production wells nearby.

Last year, Soquel Creek Water District violated State Regional Water Quality law by failing to obtain permits required to inject over 6 million gallons of treated water into the aquifer when the Twin Lakes Church injection well was constructed.  The contractor was Maggiora Bros., and the Project was under scrutiny of Brown and Caldwell Engineers as well as the District engineering staff.

Maggiora Bros. violated State law by not paying required state prevailing wages to their trucking contractor employees, which was required by the fact that the District used State Prop. 1 Grant  monies to pay for the project.

Can Soquel Creek Water District be trusted?   Hmmmm……

The County paid no concern to the fact that two small water companies and multiple private wells in Aptos are within 1/8 mile of the Twin Lakes Church injection well and are “downstream” of the millions of gallons of treated sewage water that Soquel Creek Water District plans to inject 24/7.

I found that shocking.

May 12 Bid Closures for three injection well construction projects

• Redevelopment and testing of the Twin Lakes Church SWIP well,
• Destruction of the Monterey Production well,
• Drilling, construction, development, testing, and completion of the Monterey SWIP well,
• Drilling, construction, development, testing, and completion of the Willowbrook SWIP well.

SWIP is an acronym for “Sea Water Intrusion Prevention”  The estimated cost for this work is $1,850,000.  Wow.

If any of these projects is near you, please contact Soquel Creek Water District right away:

Skylar Murphy <skylar.murphy@soquelcreekwater.org> 475-8500 x148

Here is a link to drone footage of the Twin Lakes Church injection well from last year.  That well already has significant problems that require redevelopment.

https://vimeo.com/348278420

APTOS VILLAGE NEW LEAF MARKET CLOSES DUE TO CORONAVIRUS-POSITIVE WORKERS
I am glad that the New Leaf Market in Aptos Village, now owned by a large conglomerate in South Korea, responsibly closed for one day upon learning that multiple of their workers tested positive for the coronavirus.  I wonder if the Santa Cruz County Health Department will trace and notify all the customers?  Let’s hope those workers recover soon, but what about all the others who continue to work there?  Hmmm….

Updated April 19, 2020:
At New Leaf Community Markets, the health and safety of our staff and community is important, and we continue to take extra precautions as the challenges posed by novel coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to evolve. On April 18, we made the decision to temporarily close our store in Aptos after learning that staff members had been diagnosed with COVID-19. Upon learning the news, we took immediate action to notify the Santa Cruz County Public Health Department. We deeply care about the well-being of these staff members, and we have been in touch to support them while they are recovering and self-isolating at home, including compensating them for the necessary leave of absence. While health authorities did not require us to close the store, we chose to do so to deep clean and care for our staff. We reopened the store on Sunday, April 19, following these additional safety measures:

• Sanitation of public and administrative areas throughout the store in partnership MAYBE THE CORONAVIRUS IS NOT AS with a third-party sanitation company and in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidance and our own rigorous sanitation and food safety procedures.
• Public health authorities concluded the location is safe for resuming operations.
• The store is staffed with individuals who did not come into prolonged close contact with the staff member who tested positive for COVID-19, as guidedby the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

IS THE CORONAVIRUS PERHAPS MORE BENIGN THAN THOUGHT?
The Stanford University study released recently indicates the infection rate in early April in Santa Clara County alone may already have been 50-85 times more than the number of official cases at that time.  “The estimate comes from a first-in-the-nation community study of newly available antibody tests that suggest how widespread the invisible—and perhaps benign—companion has been in the Bay Area’s hardest-hit county.”

What is different about this Stanford study is that the test used to determine the presence of the COVID-19 is an antibody test, and much more reliable.  It has been shunned by many local health authorities because the results take longer to obtain.

They have instead relied on quicker results of a different test performed in Santa Clara County that looks for bits of virus at all, and cannot always pinpoint the specific COVID-19 among the total viral load shown in the tests. It is known as the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PRC) test and according to the interview with the test’s Nobel-Prize winning inventor Dr. Kary B. Mullis, the test was never meant to be used as a diagnostic tool, but rather, used only for research projects.   According to his interview below, the numeric level of the test can be changed to provide different results depending on the number used as the diagnostic indicator.

That explains many confusing results. The article below is a bit long, but definitely worth reading.

I am grateful for the Stanford anti-body tests and the possible voice of reason it could bring to what I see as an unknown frontier that is quickly taking away our personal freedoms and Constitutional rights as if they were bowling pins.

“Emergency powers tend to kindle emergencies”…which are sometimes driven by the availability of emergency monies available. 

Think about that as you read this

Take a look at what the Town of Bolinas is doing

Using the antibody test results, the residents will then work as a community to protect those who are most vulnerable.

Take a deep breath and read about the Stanford study…give it thought.