NEWS
PlanCo Certifies Fish Farm EIR, Moves Project Forward By Elaine Weinreb
newsroom@northcoastjournal.com
N
ordic Aquafarms took a giant step closer to its goal of building a fish-rearing facility on the Samoa peninsula Aug. 4 when the Humboldt County Planning Commission unanimously certified the company’s Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) and also granted it a Coastal Development Permit and a Special Permit. The commission listened to one last brief presentation from Nordic before going into an hour-long debate on the merits and potential problems of the project. There was no public input at this meeting, as that had already occurred at the previous July. 28 meeting. Technical difficulties prevented part of the meeting from being watched remotely on Access Humboldt’s live TV channel, but Zoom connections to the hybrid meeting appeared to work as planned. Six of the seven commissioners were present during most of the meeting, with Brian Mitchell, an at-large member, absent, and Peggy O’Neill, the District Five representative, phoning in late. Nordic Vice President of Operational Quality Control Nick King addressed some issues raised during last week’s public hearing. He first praised the community for its robust interest in the project, which he said had resulted in a better product. “Ninety-nine percent of the water used is re-circulated,” he said. “Each gallon of water is re-used 100 times before we discharge it.” “No estradiol or hormones of any kind are added to our feed or to our water. All of our fish are female. All fish are harvested … before they become reproductively mature.” “The amount of fish oil and fish meal in salmon feed has significantly dropped over the decades … and is only 15-to-20 percent today.” “Nordic Aquafarms has committed to voluntary water quality monitoring and reporting beyond what is required in our discharge permit,” King continued. “The project is required to monitor and report on a large array of parameters. Our performance and our compliance will be evaluated on a regular basis, and renewed every five years. This renewal will be contingent upon evidence that our effluent does not impact the environment.” GHD Environmental Planner Andrea Hilton explained Nordic would be monitoring its effluent beyond the requirements of the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System, a federal program that protects clean water. The supervising agency in Humboldt is the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board. King briefly discussed energy issues, mentioning the company’s “voluntary commitment to purchasing 100 percent non-carbon and/or renewable energy available to us from regional energy suppliers and local sourcing. … The farm will also construct a 4.8-megawatt, 14-acre solar array to help meet our energy needs.” Commissioner Noah Levy asked for more specific information on water quality monitoring. County Planning Director John Ford explained that Nordic’s permit must be renewed every five years by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board, which has the option of requiring more robust sampling if it deems that necessary. More questions and answers on this topic were exchanged between county staff and commissioners. The roles of other permitting agencies were also discussed. The project’s intake system is under the jurisdiction of the California Coastal Commission, with the applicant for the permit being the Humboldt County Harbor, Recreation and Conservation District. The water board is responsible for monitoring water quality associated with any water intake from new construction. The California Department of Fish and Wildlife is responsible for the Incidental Take Permit, as it relates to longfin smelt, and other threatened species, and must license the fish eggs that will be brought onto the site to raise the farmed stock. National Marine Fisheries also monitors the intake apparatus, regulating the flow of water from Humboldt Bay and the size of the screen. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulates a pipeline that goes through the intertidal wetlands. The Coastal Commission also regulates both impacts to threatened species of plants and animals, and also the outfall apparatus of the facility. As is required by CEQA, the county consulted with all these agencies while writing the EIR. However, the county is not allowed to impose regulations that fall under the jurisdiction of other agencies. County Planner Cade McNamara addressed some other comments previously made by members of the public. He exContinued on next page »
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northcoastjournal.com • Thursday, Aug. 11, 2022 • NORTH COAST JOURNAL
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