Mendocino Environmental Center

10/11/2026

https://ucanr.edu/rec/hopland-research-and-extension-center/event/oak-discovery-day

Visit the Hopland Research and Extension Center for a day of learning and celebration of our local oak woodland ecosystem. Talk to oak experts, sign up for a guided walk, or make an oak inspired craft! This family friendly event will give visitors opportunities to create and explore, while learning....

10/06/2026

09/29/2026

Noyo Headlands Work Group

For Immediate Release:

State Regulators Reject Mendocino Railway's Mill Site Cleanup Proposal as Written

DTSC demands data and engineering support for the remaining Mill Site cleanup alternatives, along with effective fencing at Pond 8. Many of its concerns echo the Noyo Headlands Working Group's comments

FORT BRAGG, Calif. — The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) has rejected, as written, Mendocino Railway's draft Feasibility Study Addendum for the contaminated ponds on the former Georgia-Pacific mill site, issuing fifty comments and requiring a revised document and a written response to every comment within 90 days of receipt of its letter.

In an August 19, 2026 letter to the railroad's consultant, DTSC found that the railroad's proposal for the contaminated sediments in the Operable Unit E ponds, Pond 6, Pond 7, Pond 8 and the North Pond, rests on unsupported assumptions and on risk figures more than a decade old.

For the North Pond and Pond 6, the railroad assumed how deep the contamination goes; DTSC said those depths must be supported by sampling data from the ponds themselves. DTSC also directed the railroad to evaluate, in the Addendum itself and not in a later design phase, how well each cleanup alternative would hold up against sea level rise and climate change over the long term.

Citing photographs provided by members of the public, the agency directed the railroad to withdraw its description of Pond 8 as effectively fenced off until the fence is replaced.

Many of the problems DTSC identified were also raised in a ten-page comment letter, with supporting appendices, that the GrassRoots Institute's Noyo Headlands Working Group submitted to the agency in October 2025.

The Working Group applauds DTSC for doing exactly what a regulator is supposed to do: reading the document closely, asking for evidence, and requiring the railroad to support its conclusions. The letter calls for site data, a demonstration that the recommended remedies protect human health, engineering analysis, and a cleanup that takes the community's vision for the site seriously. That is what the Working Group asked for, and it is what Fort Bragg deserves.

For the complete Press Release and more information please refer to the Attached document (Press Release - DTSC review of FS Addendum.pdf).

The DTSC Review Letter can be found at: (https://savenoyoheadlands.org/dtsc/DTSC_REVIEW_OF_FS_ADDENDUM_8-19-26.pdf)

The Feasibility Study Addendum can be found at: (https://savenoyoheadlands.org/dtsc/25_doc-out_OUE%20FS%20Addendum_20250402.pdf)

For questions and further inquiry, please contact us via email through .

We appreciate your interest and look forward to your questions, and reporting.

Respectfully,

The Noyo Headlands Work Group
[email protected]

09/28/2026

Newsom vetoes key water protection bill
SACRAMENTO — Governor Gavin Newsom has vetoed SB 872, a key water protection bill that would have dedicated funding to address two major threats to California’s water supply: aging levees in the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta and sinking canals in the State Water Project (SWP). The bill passed the Legislature unanimously.

SB 872 was supported by more than 60 organizations and brought together Northern and Southern California legislators, environmental groups including Restore the Delta, and water interests around the need to protect critical water infrastructure and the state’s primary water source.

In his veto message, Governor Newsom cited budget constraints and called the legislation “unnecessary”. The veto comes as the state considers other major, and significantly more expensive, water investments including the Fair Ranch deal, a voluntary agreement supported by Newsom that is expected to cost approximately $1 billion.

Delta advocates are criticizing the veto, arguing that the decision leaves critical infrastructure vulnerable and fails to adequately prepare California's water system for future challenges. They are also questioning the Governor’s priorities in water planning.

“Not only did Governor Newsom veto a much needed bill to bring Delta levees to the necessary standards to deal with climate change, he vetoed funding for fixing existing conveyance for the State Water Project. Why? His never-ending quest for the Delta Conveyance Project. It is his white whale. And he has set California water infrastructure on a course for complete failure as a result of his wrongful quest,” said Barbara Barrigan-Parrilla, Executive Director at Restore the Delta.