Article by Michelle Blackwell, Chair, Richmond Chamber Government Relations Committee.
Zakhary Mallett, Bart Board Director, District 7, dropped into the Government Relations Committee meeting in May to give the Richmond Chamber an overview of his plans to reduce the traffic load on I-80. Mallet is proposing a new study to look at extending BART to Hercules. He has been knocking on City Council doors to get their support. If the study moves forward it will be paid for with Measure J dollars through WCCTAC. After spending 40 minutes on 80 from Hercules to the Avenue, that morning I certainly felt the pain.
According to Mallett, a BART extension to Hercules was studied in 1983 and in 1992 but it was derailed by divisions in the community. Since that time every area in West County has grown exponentially and so has the traffic on 80. BART ridership has also grown – El Cerrito Del Norte has over 9000 daily round trips and Richmond has 3800. A good portion of the riders at both stations are from the northern areas of West County. The committee recommended that the Chamber Board support a BART study. The study will help define a preferred alternative. After which BART will need to go through an Environmental Impact Review. If everything goes well, the new line could be in service in 15 to 20 years. Well it won’t help me – but maybe my grandkids.
Joe Doser from Contra Costa Environmental Health also stopped in to talk about the illegal dumps and transfer stations that have been popping up in Richmond and North Richmond. Since the beginning of the year a multi-agency task force that included Contra Costa County Environmental Health, Sheriff’s Office, County Hazmat, State Toxics, DA’s office, Richmond Code Enforcement and Supervisor Gioia’s office shut down 12 illegal dumps and they are working on an additional three. These facilities pollute the local air and water table and they unfairly compete with legitimate businesses like Richmond Sanitary and Sims Metal. Many of these locations had hazardous material leeching into the soil and evaporating into the air. This gets into the creeks and bay and pollutes the fish that many families depend on in this area. Fire is also a huge concern because the temperatures in the piles are not monitored. A recent fire at an illegal site in East county burned for three days forcing the shutdown of an elementary school. Another issue is illegal dumping. These scofflaws strip out all the materials they can sell and then dump the rest of the junk along the side of the road, which the taxpayers pay to clean up. If this alarms you and I think it should – be aware that all legal haulers have a business license from the City. The following tips will help keep Richmond clean and free of illegal dumps and help legitimate businesses like you.
- Hire licensed refuse haulers by verifying the hauler has a city business license.
- Make sure waste materials are taken to an approved location for disposal or recycling by requesting the hauler provide you a copy of the receipt from the disposal site before you pay them.
- Report illegal dumps to the City right away. If the dump is not listed below – you can bet it is illegal.
—————————————————————–
Legal Solid Waste Disposal Sites in or near West Contra Costa County – Open to Public (Contact facility directly for hours of operation, costs, wastes accepted, service area restrictions)
Acme Landfill
950 Waterbird Way, Martinez (925) 228-7099
City of El Cerrito Recycling Center
7501 Schmidt Lane, El Cerrito (510) 215-4350
Contra Costa Transfer and Recovery Station
951 Waterbird Way, Martinez (925) 313-8900
Golden Bear Transfer Station
Parr Boulevard, Richmond (510) 970-7260
West Contra Costa Resource Recovery-Central Processing Facility
101 Pittsburg Ave., Richmond (510) 231-4200 /(888) 412-9277 (household hazardous waste)
Website for more recycling information: http://www.cccounty.us/depart/cd/recycle/options