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CC 04-18-2017 Oral Communicationsc C Y ft1/r7 () ~ L Q5Yvu"rt . To: City of Cupertino, City Council, Planning and Legal Departments From: Cathy Helgerson -CAP -Citizens Against Pollution Subject: Lehigh Cement and Quarry Wastewater Treatment Plant Proposal with Santa Clara County I have attached the letter I submitted to the Cupertino Sanitation Department for their review of a proposal I suggested on an alternate idea to the building of a very expensive Lehigh Wastewater Treatment Plant for the City of Cupertino's City Council Members to review . I was told by the Cupertino Sanitation Department that Lehigh Southwest Cement is not under their jurisdiction and so they would not even cons ider my proposal. I was treated unprofessionally and disrespectfully and told that I was on the agenda and that I could talk to the board as long as I wanted to but once I got before the board I was told my letter was on the agenda but me talking was not. I don't see how this could happen and wonder who overseas this board and what can I do to be actually considered and heard as it stands this should never have happened to me. I would like the City of Cupertino's City council to look into this matter and help me to promote my proposal to the Cupertino Sanitation Department this is a very serious matter. Lehigh has not been in compliance in many areas as the City well knows and just the settlements and fines are not enough we need to make sure that they are not able continue to pollute . The San Jose -Santa Clara Wastewater Treatment Plant in San Jose is more than able to treat this polluted water coming from Lehigh Cement Plant and Quarry we do not need a Lehigh Wastewater Treatment Plant. I have outlined a great deal of information but one more thing needs to be added the Cupertino Sanitation Department need only consider annexing the Sanitation portion and Santa Clara County can handle the rest as they have been doing. There need not be total annexation for all of the Lehigh Cement Plant and Quarry only the parts that would hook up to the man hole opening at the beginning of the Steven Creek Blvd., Lehigh is also in an unincorporated area which could be added to the Cupertino Sanitation Division jurisdiction. They already have some unincorporated areas that they cover so this should not be a great problem. There is a great amount of revenue that would be gained by the County and Cities which would help with all kinds of expenses why waste that money on an unwanted Lehigh Wastewater Treatment Plant. Please read my paperwork and get back to me this matter is of great importance. Thank you, TO: Cupertino Sanitation Division Attn : Richard Tanaka, Frank Quach, Julie Rodriguez and the Cupertino Sanitation Board From: Cathy Helgerson -CAP -Citizens Against Pollution Subject: Lehigh Southwest Cement and Quarry Wastewater Treatment Plant Proposal I would first like to address this to Richard Tanaka and the Cupertino Sanitation Board for their review because I feel that this matter must be addressed immediately and that it is of a very urgent matter. Lehigh Southwest Cement and Quarry are in the process of filing an application with Santa Clara County to build and operate a Wastewater Treatment Plant which they will eventually bring up to the Zoning Administration for review much to my dismay. I have reviewed the paperwork including the Geotechnical Report and feel that there are many problems with this Lehigh Wastewater Treatment Plant and that it would be a health and safety issue which could affect the public. I have commented on this with Santa Clara County and will also be commenting on their application again because sec has asked them to add more information. I have contacted the Cupertino Sanitation Department and discussed this with Frank Quach and Julie Rodriguez who have given me information regarding this matter so I do hope you Richard you will look into this matter immediately. It seems that someone at Lehigh contacted the Cupertino Sanitation Department asking about connecting a pile line from Lehigh to the pipes already there at the Steven Creek Blvd., I am not sure what Lehigh was told but it seems Lehigh never got back to your office. Julie could not tell me who you Richard spoke to, and I guess that your office never got back to them to follow up in any way San Jose -Santa Clara Wastewater Treatment Plant was also contacted by Lehigh about this and is seems there was a miscommunication and it seems Lehigh was told that connecting lines and directing wastewater to the San Jose -Santa Clara Wastewater Treatment Plant could not be done. I was also told this when I called but later found out due to my persistence I wanted to know why and so I found out there had been a miscommunication and was told by Amit Mutsuddy that it could be possible. He would like someone from Cupertino Sanitation Department to contact him about this and discuss the matter he is open to that. I have been in contact with Santa Clara County Christopher Hoem who is reviewing Lehigh's application and who will be submitting it to the Zoning Administration once that people have commented on the matter. I discussed this matter with Christopher and told him I would contact Cupertino Sanitation Department and the San Jose -Santa Clara Waste Treatment Plant to see it is possible to save everyone a great deal of money by not putting in a Lehigh Wastewater Treatment Plant. I would first like to make a suggestion instead of putting in larger pipes to handle the great amount of water that Lehigh has to process I would like to suggest that maybe the amount of water coming down from them could be regulated in some way and released slowly. I understand from Julie and Frank that in order to handle .5 Million Gallons that a bigger pipe line would have to be installed because the pipes that are there are not enough. Julie says she can do modeling but it would have to clear from you. I hope if there is no other way but to put in a bigger pile line that your department would consider it. Richard I would like to propose instead of all that expense how about doing what the Santa Clara Valley Water District does with the Steven Creek Reservoir they release water through a recharge pond behind the 7 /11 store and this water goes into the aquifer below the valley . The water at Lehigh is now in the ponds and is also in the quarry it is treated by and goes through small treatment units and the water is released into the Permanente Creek and eventually ends up i n the aquifer and the SF Bay and is eventually delivered to the public by the San Jose Water Company and the Californ i a Water Service Company . They set this up because of the Selenium that was going into the Permanente Creek from the East Material Storage Area which is still a problem and needs to be resolved. The water at Lehigh from the Cement Plant, Quarry and all the ponds on the site are polluted and must be treated . The Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against Lehigh for polluting the Permanente Creek, and it went to court and they won the judge instructed Lehigh to stop the pollution and that is how they decided to build a Wastewater Treatment Plant . I am sure that if a better system was suggested that Sierra Club and the judge could consider that alternative. I also see that Lehigh tried to find out if an alternative is possible in the past. Lehigh could funnel the water from the quarry and the ponds into a central location and hook up to a line which could have a regulator so that only a certain amount of wastewater could go through as a given time. Santa Clara Water District with the Steven Creek Reservoir and the recharge pond is a perfect example of what can be done and it has been working. This water can be held in the quarry or the ponds not a problem t his has already been going on all they need is a release system in place letting the limit of water at a time be released this saving installing larger pipes. Richard this needs to be coordinated by someone please can you take the lead in this? Richard I know that this is work for you and your group, and that Julie tells me you are all very busy but this matter is of life and death to the valley and the SF Bay Area and cannot wait because Lehigh is submitting their application for a the Lehigh Wastewater Treatment Plant and it will be going to the Zoning Administration for approval and then once approved it will go to the Building Department. I ask that your group coordinate t his alternative with Lehigh, Santa Clara County, Santa Clara -San Jose Waste Treatment Plant, State Regional Water Quality Board, Sierra Club and the Judge to put this plan in action immediately. There is a great deal of money to be saved for Lehigh but there is also a great deal of revenue to be gained for the Cupertino Sanitation Department and Santa Clara-San Jose Wastewater Treatment Plant who would be charging Lehigh for the service. I would think that this money is better spent than building an unwanted Treatment Plant. I also feel that Lehigh should not be allowed to monitor the treatment facility alone, and that whoever they hired to build and monitor the plant may not be the best company to do the job. The San Jose -Santa Clara Wastewater Treatment Plant is a mass ive treatment plant and they will also be making many wonderful upgrades to the facility over the years they are the best facility to do the job. I have looked on the web and the system they use to t reat wastewater it is full proof and they have been around for SO years doing a great job. My question is why do we need the Lehigh Wastewater Treatment Plant when there is a professional highly responsible treatment facility in the valley already can anyone tell me? The fact that it seems that any company can just go ahead and put in a wastewater treatment plant should not be taking place and the agencies that regulate this wastewater should not be allowing it. I would hope that you can contact the State Regional Water Quality Control Dept. to see what part they will play in this matter I have given you Dyan Whyte as a contact person at the end of this message . I am very interested in this matter because I see the Lehigh Wastewater Treatment Plant as a Health and Safety issue and also a waste of money that could be spent in a better way. I have been an advocate against the pollution at the Lehigh Southwest Cement and Quarry for 12 years and counting and have seen how much pollution they have been allowed to distribute in our community and I feel this needs to end. The Lehigh Wastewater Treatment Plant would not treat the water down to zero emissions but only to what is required by the State Region Water Quality Board and the State Environmental Protection Agency this is not enough there is the cumulative affect we need to consider. I was told by the Santa Clara -San Jose Waste Treatment Plant representative that no wastewater treated or not should be going into the Permanente Creek or any other creek this truly makes a great deal of sense. They do not release any wastewater down any creek in San Jose. Lehigh Southwest Cement and Quarry has been polluting the Silicon Valley and the SF Bay Area for over 90 years and counting and this needs to end . They are running out of limestone in the old quarry and they will need to mine a new pit this would be an absolute disaster for everyone and would cost many lives. The mining of a new pit would cost 30 thousand trees and 600 acres of land to be destroyed and it would also displace many animals that live in the woods there. The Mid-Peninsula Preserve is right next to Lehigh and the animals would run for their lives causing an over flow into the Preserve this should not be allowed to happen. It would be a tragedy, many animals would die who have their homes in the ground and in the trees this cannot be allowed to take place. I am not discounting putting in new pipes to handle the Lehigh Wastewater load but it seems there could be a better way with what I suggested above in the paragraphs above. I know there must be a way to work this out but I need everyone to help please get back to me ASAP because Santa Clara County will be processing Lehigh's application soon. Contact People as follows: Santa Clara County -Christopher Hoem Phone No. 408-299-5784 & Manira Sandhir Supervisor Phone No. 408-299-5787, Main No. 408-299-5770 San Jose -Santa Clara Regional Wastewater Facility-Amit Mutsuddy -Cell Phone 408 -515-2021 Office phone 408-635-2007 State Regional Water Quality District -Dyan Whyte Phone Number -Main No. 510-622 -2441-Cell Phone 510-926-2870 • . "' • :~~ ... ~ .~ . --·1 j _;..: LtELic HT CiNE:\ilL\s '·· 9th Annual Celebrating Abilities Featuring local and international films by, for, and about individuals of all abilities. SUNDAY, APRIL 23, 2017 Admission is free. Advance registration appreciated: 2:00 PM -5:00 PM www.collegeofadaptivearts.org BLUELIGHT CINEMAS Donations gratefully accepted. Films are 2 -12 minutes long. Located in The Oaks Shopping Center 21275 Stevens Creek Blvd., Cupertino, CA 95014 COMPLIMENTARY MEET & GREET: 5:15 -6:15 PM at Hobee's restaurant in the Oaks Shopping Center.