Julie is right about the solar problem, but she and Newberry are too late to stop it.  We have a worthless CSD.  The board doesn't care about keeping people safe.  Both the CSD board and the County stink of the abuse of public trust.

    These egotistical politicians receive no community blowback.  No political punishment for their incompetence and failures.  And, their dumb to dumber constituents repeatedly reelect them.

    It is too late to whine about the ecological destruction caused by the Clearway Energy project.  Supervisor Paul Cook proudly supports the solar project as he supports the Cadiz project.  Morally corrupt Supervisor Dawn Rowe, who we will be switched to later this year, has already voiced her priority to support the alien solar developers over long-time residents.

    It has taken the recent windstorm to wake up a few local residents.

    In a short time, Blattner Energy will be spreading sufficient soil adhesive binder to temporarily keep the visible sand from blowing and the locals temporarily happy.

    Over time, with vehicles, foot traffic, rain, heat, temperature changes, and wind, the binder will break down and there won't be any incentive to spend the many hundreds of thousands of dollars to repeatedly reapply the binder over 5.5-square miles.  There wasn't an incentive with the Mountain View solar project and there isn't one with the Clearway project.

    Julie's above post seems to be about the inconvenience of "sand and silt."  There isn't any mention of particulate dust that should be the awakening.

    For those who understood my February 18, 2022, news blog, the information is unsettling.

    The size of airborne particulate matter (PM) for government records is typically measured in sizes of PM 10 µm or PM 2.5 µm.  µm (micrometer aka micron) being 1/1,000,000 of a meter, or roughly .00004 inches in size.

    Under the advice of silly CSD director Jack Unger, the Newberry CSD board has been investing in consumer-grade Purple Air measuring devices that measure PM 10 µm and PM 2.5 µm.

    The California Air Resources Board has sponsored research conducted at UC Davis that has revealed that particulate matter smaller than PM .1 µm (1/10 µm) may be very hazardous when breathed in with common Ozone (O₃).

    Newberry's airborne sand, while very visible, is largely blocked from harming humans by the body's natural defenses.  It is the fine and ultra-fine particulate dust that is invisible that is lethal.

    Lethal dust is mixed in with the blowing sand.  While high winds are necessary to lift the heavier grains of sand, only a lite breeze will lift the deadly microscopic silica dust particles.

    In short, the blading done by Blattner Energy for the Clearway Energy solar project is disturbing and exposing ultrafine silica that the slight desert breezes are now constantly launching over Newberry Springs.

    This silica can not be seen, tasted, or even recorded.  But it is there, and over time, cumulatively deadly for some residents as it coats the lining of the lungs, blood vessels, and other organs creating deadly scar tissue within.

    PM .1 µm is 10-times smaller than the MDAQMD's (Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District) measurement equipment can recognize (PM 1.0).  The MDAQMD's equipment can only measure down to PM 1 µm.  Not the microscopic PM .1 µm and smaller.

    Most residents are ignoring the warnings believing that they have always lived O.K. in the desert's blowing sand.  Yes, the past impacts of silica exposures may not be the cause of one's death but the scarring of one's organ tissues may be a contributing factor.

    Arsenic is an example of proportion.  Trace amounts of arsenic are often in the water we consume.  In minimum quantity, we live with it.  In higher concentrations, arsenic can kill.

    Likewise, in minimum quantity, we are impacted by silica dust.  But by the cumulative effect of inhaling the additional concentration of silica dust from Clearway Energy, many will experience serious health issues from a long list of silica-related ailments.

    Clearway's silica dust is a California Proposition 65 recognized carcinogen.

    Asking TV channels 2, 4, and 7 to investigate is being naive.  They won't.  They don't have the time for the investigation of complicated rural situations miles away from their stations.  However, Julie's idea does hold merit.  Regional TV stations will air our situation if a Press Release to them already has the evidentiary investigation and story laid out for them. 

    And yes, Julie could be correct that attorneys might start coming out-of-the-woodwork smelling litigation success.  As the damages are constantly ongoing, there isn't a statute of limitations.  The CSD and its individual directors can be held personally liable.  The CSD directors' illegal and botched handling of the CSD's solar litigation had multiple errs.