By Tom Myers, Alpine Community Planning Group Circulation Committee

Is your pavement all cracked up because of the Powerlink construction? Is the ride home rougher than it should be on your car suspension? We want to hear from YOU!

At the next meeting of the Alpine Community Planning Group Circulation Subcommittee we will discuss roads that were damaged by SDG&E heavy trucks and equipment but not yet resurfaced. You may recall that SDG&E representatives promised us at several ACPG meetings that they would restore any damage to Alpine area roadways caused by their operations. Now that their work is done, many of us have been waiting for the repairs.

By Miriam Raftery

February 18, 2013 (Ocotillo) – As mitigation for major projects including Sunrise Powerlink and Ocotillo Express Wind Facility, energy companies were required to mitigate damage by restoring vegetation.  But now residents and some environmentalists are raising criticisms over the level of restoration efforts put forth by Pattern Energy and SDG&E.

September 30, 2011 (San Diego's East County) -- East County Roundup highlights top stories in our region and state, published in other media outlets.  These week's top Roundup headlines include:

•          Tribe attempts to evict private military contractor: Los Coyotes band in a legal standoff with Blackwater-tied company (San Diego CityBeat)
•          Ballot effort to repeal fire fee falls short (Sacramento Bee)
•          San Diego family of 3 needs $63,000 to be self-sufficient (KPBS)
•         San Diego ATM fees second highest in nation (KPBS)
•          Tankers for Sunrise Powerlink project upsets residents (10 News)
•          Palomar Mountain State Park campgrounds close for good (signonsandiego.com)

•          California breaks from 50 state probe into mortgage lenders[will conduct own probe] (Los Angeles Times)
•          Education lawsuit would impact future California budgets (Sacramento Bee)
•          Advocates for disabled to sue over state budget cuts (Sacramento Bee)
•          FPPC looks at easing candidate reporting requirements (KPBS)  

By Miriam Raftery

To: Jeff Light, Editor, San Diego Union-Tribune; jeff.light@uniontrib.com

July 24, 2011 (San Diego's East County) -- I applaud the UT for setting up a citizen’s editorial board.  In many ways you’ve achieved a diversity of views ethinically, racially, and politically. But there are some glaring omissions.

There is not a single voice representing East County, rural residents,  fire survivors, nor environmental protection interests in the backcountry. 

It’s particularly unbalanced to have SDG&E represented on the board, with no one to speak for rural East County folks negatively impacted by the company’s actions.

Massive helicopters used in heavy-lifting operations such as Sunrise Powerlink

By Miriam Raftery

June 16, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Acting on a tip from a caller who said he used to work under sky cranes during forest fire operations, ECM has conducted an investigation into the safety record of massive sky crane helicopters such as the Erickson S-64F sky cranes that dropped two 16,000-pound tower sections last week during construction of SDG&E’s Sunrise Powerlink.
 

 “One significant issue not being reported is the number of aircraft they, Erickson, have lost due to mechanical issues or operator error,” said the caller, who asked not to be identified but indicated he has worked on a ground crew under the aircraft and has never worked for any Erickson competitor.  He provided details on several specific accidents which an ECM investigation has independently verified.

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Ron Logan, Miriam Raftery, and Merton Gaudette

March 10, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Candy Jenkins was looking forward to seeing environmental evidence presented to a federal judge in San Diego on Monday. “I live on El Capitan Mountain,” said the Lakeside resident, who  alleges that SDG&E is building Sunrise Powerlink towers only 2,000 feet from an eagles’ nest. She has photos, and says the eagles are tagged and the locations documented by the County. “Towers weren’t supposed to be within 4,000 feet,” she said. “We’re bringing this out today in court.”

Told by this reporter that the hearing had been cancelled because Judge Michael Anello announced that he will be ruling on the written record only, Jenkins expressed shock. “It’s heartbreaking,” she said. “Whatever happened to democracy in America?”