December 15, 2009
CONTACT: BRENT PLATER, WILD EQUITY INSTITUTE, 415-572-6989
MORE LEGAL VIOLATIONS AT SHARP PARK UNEARTHED
GOLF COURSE HAS UNPERMITTED POLLUTANTS IN WATER
ALL GOLF ALTERNATIVE WOULD VIOLATE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
GOLF COURSE HAS UNPERMITTED POLLUTANTS IN WATER
ALL GOLF ALTERNATIVE WOULD VIOLATE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT
“We’ve known for a while that the quantity of water at Sharp Park was an issue, but now the quality is an issue too,” said Brent Plater, Executive Director of the Wild Equity Institute. “Luckily there’s a single, economical solution to both issues: restore Sharp Park’s natural wetlands and let nature’s filters absorb the excess water and scrub the contaminants out for us.”
Sharp Park Golf Course maintains several culverts and drainage ditches which the golf course uses to collect storm water and irrigation run-off, and then discharges this water through point sources into endangered species habitats on the property. The Clean Water Act prohibits the discharge of pollutants into United States waters without a permit, but recently released water sampling data shows that Sharp Park’s discharges contain a variety of pollutants. The Golf Course does not have a permit, and in a letter prepared by the law firm Environmental Advocates, WEI demands that San Francisco put an end to these illegal discharges immediately.
A second notice letter alleges that San Francisco’s proposal to invest up to $11million dollars in golf course improvements designed to push endangered species off City property and onto adjacent lands violates the Endangered Species Act and jeopardizes recovery efforts for the species. The City’s plan has been heavily criticized as fundamentally flawed by ecologists, biologists, and coastal engineers because it fails to assess how climate change will affect the property and because it makes the preposterous assertion that picnickers are a greater threat to endangered species than golf course lawn mowers and pumping operations.
“The City’s all-golf alternative may provide job security for paid consultants, but it’s a pink slip for Twain’s Frog and the Beautiful Serpent said Plater. “Recovery efforts that actually work are already being implemented at Mori Point, next to Sharp Park: we should take a page from their recovery book rather than burning it.”
The controversial Sharp Park golf course is beset by numerous problems: it loses money, it harms endangered species, and it’s poor design and unfortunate placement causes the course to flood during normal winter rains, putting the surrounding communities at risk.
The best solution to these intersecting problems is to close the golf course, restore the natural flood-protection features that the golf course destroyed, and operate the land in partnership with the National Park Service, which already owns and manages properties adjacent to Sharp Park. A restored Sharp Park can reduce the risk and exposure of catastrophic flooding events, recover endangered species, spur Pacifica’s economy, and create recreational opportunities everyone can enjoy.
11 comments:
This is friggin hilarious! Like hitting you're tee shot on the fairway of a different hole and saying what a nice lie!!
Pssst, Plater . . . when I exposed the City of Pacifica for lying about a 7 million gallon sewer spill, you said exactly what? Yeah, don't worry. Carlos Davidson, Ian Butler, Nancy Hall, John Curtis, Peter Loeb, Laurie Goldberg, and every fraudulent so-called "environmentalist" in the community didn't say a damned thing either.
Wow! check out the web site for the Wild Equity Institute founded in August 2009. See the board of directors below
Rose Braz – Chairperson
Lawrence Cuevas
Stan Kaufman – Secretary
Ken Masters – Treasurer
Brent Plater – President and Executive Director
Suprise! Brent Plater has formed his own organization to address the condition of the water at the golf course. I guess CBD wasn't going to get too far so he had to find something new to threaten the city of SF with.
This has nothing to do with the environment. This is all about Brent winning. I agree Jeff. This is friggin hilarious!
Janet K.
Hum, agreed...why stop with the Golf Course, maybe Brent Plater hasn't heard about the city sewer lateral, collection pipe scandal in Pacifica pumping sewage into our streams, creeks and the Pacific ocean. He should catch that "star" and contact Cecilia Quick, City of Pacifica for a sure "Wild Equity" win.
I wonder if at birth Plater's mom asked for a mulligan?
Meanwhile over at Riptide, I asked John Maybury why he ran this without a listed source. As usual, the silence is deafening. Maybury wants to pawn himself as being centrist but he is anything but. He has not posted about 3 of my responses to Kathy Jana aka Brent Platers report posted there the other day. He is just no longer posting anything pro golf course.
Sorry the "Fix Pacifica" post was me "learning", and in no way reflects on the "editors", who each have their own intelligent views and opinions on such issues. Good to see you Janet K., very resourceful as usual-- Brent Plater strikes again, kind of like a mutating virus.
Pacifica Truth Police has a point, of course we don't know Plater's mom.
Is Sharp Park over the limit for frog pee-pee?
This is kind of interesting The restoresharppark.org url, which used to take you to the Restore Sharp Park site,now redirects to Brent Plater's Wild Equity site. How does that work? Who made that decision and why?
The Restore Sharp Park website was funded by the Center for Biological Diversity (as it says on their FAQ), but now the root url is redirected to Brent Plater's Wild Equity contribution solicitation site. All their traffic now flows straight to Brent. Doesn't smell right.
From Maybury/Riptide (July 30, 2009):
The Pacifica Tribune ran a correction July 29 that Brent Plater of Restore Sharp Park is not affiliated with the Center for Biological Diversity (CBD).
Posted by: John Maybury | July 30, 2009 at 01:53 PM
From the SF Examiner (Dec 8,2009): SF Examiner Online
For years, the Sharp Park Golf Course in Pacifica has been a target of environmental concern, particularly by the Center for Biological Diversity, a national organization which advocates for the protection of biological resources and endangered species. The web site, www.restoresharppark.org, sponsored by the Center, details the basics of the proposal.
BTW, just noticed that RestoreSharpPark.org is no longer listed as a Riptide sponsor/advertiser. Clearly, Plater has gone to Plan B.
Plater may have moved to Plan B (notification of their "Wild Equity" lawsuit), but the tear-down the golf course and restore to a dirt pile were out in force at the SF Supervisor's meeting yesterday. Our golf supporting Mayor Lancelle was there: from her speech hard to tell where her support was (very confusing).
The SF paid professional consultant Science Report supports the 18 hole golf course, and the reasoning is clear: clean-up Laguna Salada, and provide a habitat corridor land bridge to Horse Stable pond and Morri Point (uplands). This is already a natural migration pattern from summer to winter months.
Meantime, into the future until the oceans gradually rise continue the 77 year old golf course "human recreation" which is busy and profitable enough. Permanent habitat transition will occur to Horse Stable Pond and Mori Point (the uplands).
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