Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign.
[00:00:06] Speaker B: Welcome to the KMED News. I'm your news Director April Lewis and I'm glad to be with you for this broadcast.
In this episode we have stories on Juneteenth Day inside Humboldt Courts, a report on California's road system and brand new revelations from the North Coast Water Board on the bentonite spill in Redwood Creek.
But first, some quick local road updates. This is KMUD News.
Starting off with some road updates from Caltrans.
On Route 36, construction upgrades near Carlotta are scheduled to continue.
One way traffic control will be in effect and Travelers should expect 15 minute delays.
Also on Route 36 slide response west of Grizzly Creek Redwood State park will continue.
One way traffic control will be in effect.
Travelers should expect up to 60 minute delays on 101. Drainage work is scheduled a couple of miles north of the Mendocino Humboldt county line. Weeknights from 7pm to 7am One way traffic control will be in effect and Travelers should expect 10 minute delays.
Also on 101 wall work is scheduled a couple miles north of the Mendocino Humboldt county line. One way traffic control will be in effect and Travelers should expect 10 minute delays on Route 1 in Mendocino. Emergency work south of Westport from the Blues beach trailhead to the overlook will continue.
One way traffic control will be in effect from 7am to 6pm Motorists should anticipate up to 30 minute delays.
Next from the Del Norte County Roads Division, South Fork Road will have one lane open near Boulder Creek.
Rocks may continue to fall at this location. Proceed with caution.
Rock removal will continue the week of June 22nd during normal business hours.
Expect 30 minute delays during rock removal activities.
Conditions are subject to change as this is an active rockfall area.
Staff and consultants will continue to evaluate the site over the coming weeks.
And now our main stories. This is KMUD News.
The North Coast Water Board has new emergency orders and revelations on the bentonite spill incident in Redwood Creek. KMUD news reports on June 17, KMUD news was contacted by representatives of the North Coast Water Board to have a face to face video chat discussion about new cleanup abatement and investigative orders for the property owner and contractors involved with the bed night slurry spill into Redwood Creek and its tributaries.
We conducted that discussion with the Water Board late Wednesday afternoon. As previously reported, the Bend night slurry was the result of drilling activities for a last mile fiber Internet project on Highway 101 that was then trucked to Michael Coelho's property on Bryceland Road which then made its way into the Creek System.
These orders identified the individual who accepted the Bend Night slurry onto his property as Michael Coelho of 4545 Bryceland Road and Redway.
An additional order was issued for the contractors, including Arcadian Infracom, North Sky Communications and Direct Drilling of Oregon. That's a total of four parties listed as responsible for the Bend Night Slurry spill incident.
The order stayed clear instructions for submitting detailed cleanup and abatement plans on the Bryceland property and surrounding impacted creeks. That report is due on July 10, followed by weekly progress reports on cleanup efforts with a required completion date of July 29th.
It's a tight schedule and cleanup costs will likely hit six figures.
Representatives at KMUD News meeting with the North Coast Water Board included Supervising Water Resource Engineer Adona White, Public Information Officer Blair Robertson, and Senior Environmental Scientist and Enforcement Unit Supervisor Chief Jeremiah Puget.
Jeremiah did most of the speaking during the meeting, including the audio we are sharing on this newscast.
We'll start Jeremiah Puget's remarks with his comments on the Brycelyn Road site being the only known spill at this time and also the Water Board's focus on mitigation and making sure there are no long term environmental impacts for Redwood Creek and its tributaries.
[00:04:57] Speaker C: To our knowledge, right now we only have the one impacted stream and segment that we're focusing on and that is the focus of these cleanup orders. In addition to trying to get a broader understanding of what type of operations are taking place, who's in charge of those and requirements for mitigation impacts. And when I say mitigation, not just mitigation for the discharge, but as a compensatory offset to deal with impacts that have occurred and some post impact water quality monitoring.
[00:05:32] Speaker B: Jeremiah Puget of the North Coast Water Board also stated that if there are any additional bentonite slurry spill sites, that is a requirement of the Water Board's order to disclose all disposal sites and practices.
[00:05:47] Speaker C: They are required to disclose any and all other disposal sites that have been used in all projects throughout the region. So you're right, there's a lot of projects that have gone on. We're aware of some other future projects and some that have happened in the past. So we are asking for a comprehensive description of all of their disposal practices, any receipts that they have, estimates both looking back and looking forward. And that's a very, we hope, a very clear component of our investigative order.
[00:06:20] Speaker B: The North Coast Water Board also gave more details on the composition of the bentonite slurry and the negative impact it can have on aquatic ecosystems this bentonite
[00:06:31] Speaker C: slurry that has been discharged that we're referring to in the order as horizontal directional drilling waste, HDD waste, and this slurry that ran off is somewhat akin to mud or really, really, really fine, sticky sediment and what that does to the substrate of a stream.
There's a variety of unfortunate aquatic ecosystem impacts that it can have. When this thick mud, if you will, and fine sediment gets entrained into the system, it can have negative impacts on the migration for fish. It can have negative impacts on their ability to feed, their ability to spawn, as well as it could bury fish eggs and smother them, preventing enough oxygen to get to them. But we don't have direct evidence of that because it's as you could, as you could probably understand, when things get buried, it's hard to tell.
So we don't have direct evidence of a fish kill. But we know that this type of fine sediment is our expertise, right? We know that this type of fine mud and this kind of sediment like discharge has the potential to further exacerbate biostimulatory conditions, which is kind of a fancy term for exacerbating algal blooms because of the relationship with increasing temperature and starving the stream of oxygen. So it can further exacerbate biostimulatory conditions.
[00:08:10] Speaker B: Jeremiah Puget of the North Coast Water Board also shared information on the potential impact of bentonite slurry discharges on residential pump systems and drinking water quality.
[00:08:22] Speaker C: Part of the information that we're trying to share, and frankly, we think that the reporting on this has been helpful, is alerting people that if you're aware, if they're pulling from a stream that's that cloudy, it has the potential to foul their entire water system. I've been involved in other cases where I've seen that kind of thing happen.
Somebody was running their pump on a day and they thought, oh, it's a beautiful sunny day, the stream should be clear. I'm going to run my pump. Well, this has the ability to really affect all of their plumbing, their filters, their faucets. It could really upset a domestic water supply or even an agricultural water supply. And we protect all of the beneficial uses from domestic industrial to agricultural water supply.
[00:09:03] Speaker B: Moving from potential impacts to findings of the North Coast Water Board's ongoing investigation, Jeremiah revealed that the water Board, in coordination with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, found bentonite slurry deposits of up to 2ft in depth in a tributary of Redwood Creek.
[00:09:22] Speaker C: We've seen extensive deposition. We've seen that from our own eyes. And we've also communicated with the Department of Fish and Wildlife, who has gone out to take a few measurements. And in some locations, up to a couple of feet of bentonite slurry has been discharged.
[00:09:39] Speaker B: The North Coast Water Board also gave more information on the possible further spread of bentonite slurry material and why a quick cleanup process is wholly necessary before any future storms could push more material to other areas of the watershed.
[00:09:55] Speaker C: Through just our normal geologic and hydrologic processes, the river and creek will flush themselves out.
Our concern with that is that it's just going to continue to spread some of that material into places to where it shouldn't be. And so we do think that human intervention is necessary. And that is the impetus and reason behind us issuing those cleanup orders. We have found that this exacerbates a condition of pollution nuisance in the watershed.
[00:10:28] Speaker B: Senior environmental scientist and enforcement Unit supervisor Jeremiah Puget of the North Coast Water Board also emphasized the extreme need for a professionally led and judicious cleanup process in order to not cause further damage to Redwood Creek and its tributaries.
[00:10:45] Speaker C: What we don't want happening is just somebody running out there on their own and deciding, oh, I'm just going to vacuum this out myself. We've got a vac truck. We're just going to go to town. Can we do that? And the answer to that is no.
We have to have professional, qualified, experienced professionals that'll be developing a plant and overseeing the implementation of that because it's reasonable to expect, and we've seen it before, where people get carried away with their cleanup actions and can cause more harm in the process. So that's what we're trying to avoid. We want this to happen as soon as possible. Why we've dedicated so much resources to it and are issuing that emergency order.
But from experience, we know that we have to be thoughtful around this or we can further exacerbate situations.
[00:11:37] Speaker B: Today, June 18, we followed up with Jeremiah Puget of the North Coast Water Board for additional clarifications after the public release of emergency cleanup and abatement orders. In Cayman News meeting with the water board yesterday, Jeremiah conveyed that thus far, all four involved parties are cooperating with the required cleanup process and that neither Michael Coelho or the companies involved have indicated they will be petitioning against the orders, which they do have a legal right to do.
Fines for not following the orders would be up to $5,000 per day, and cases can even be referred to the California Attorney General's office for enforcement.
We'll be following the cleanup of Redwood Creek and surrounding impacted watersheds closely. Our hope, as is the hope of our community, is that this cleanup of bed night drilling material can be done on schedule and that it doesn't present further threats to wildlife in residential water systems.
Reporting for kmud, I'm April Lewis.
Today on Inside Humboldt Courts, a federal complaint reveals details of an FBI child predator sting.
The manslaughter retrial of Destiny Ramey prepares for round two in front of a new jury and an alleged attempted murder against a police officer in Arcata heads to trial. Ryan Hudson reports.
[00:13:05] Speaker D: This is Inside Humboldt Courts on KMUD News.
I'm Ryan Hutson.
Today we have three cases to recap for you, including one with a federal twist.
First, in the case of the People vs Derek Barnett.
In December of 2024, a 37 year old Arcata man drove to a community park, according to the felony complaint, where he believed he was going to meet up with a 14 year old girl.
Instead, federal agents were waiting for him.
The accused, Derek Ryan Barnett, has dual cases pending for the same incident.
One case is rooted in Humboldt County Superior Court, while the other one takes place in federal court.
The explicit details of this case are drawn directly from a federal criminal complaint that we have reviewed. Starting in October 2024, Barnett allegedly began messaging a profile on Facebook dating by the name of Anastasia or Anna.
The profile listed the user as 24 years old.
But early on in their conversations, the account told Barnett, I'm not 18 yet, I'm 14.
Barnett kept messaging anyway. What followed, according to the FBI, was a sustained campaign of predatory grooming. For two months, Barnett sent a series of explicit messages, images and videos by text message.
What Barnett didn't Anastasia was not real. She was a fake Persona operated by a civilian informant working with the FBI. On December 23, Barnett drove to a local park in Arcata for the arranged meeting. The last text he sent to the decoy before leaving his house better not be a setup like me going to jail.
Barnett went to the park anyway.
Federal agents arrested him on arrival and recovered the cell phone he had been using to communicate with the decoy.
In a post arrest interview, after having been read his Miranda rights, According to the FBI, Barnett admitted that he knew Anna was 14 years old, admitted sending explicit images of himself, and then told agents he wasn't planning to do anything with her at the park.
The federal charge, attempted enticement and coercion of a minor carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in federal prison, with the maximum being life in prison.
As of this reporting, we are unable to confirm that Barnett is currently in custody.
Separately, he also faces the three felony charges from Humboldt county related to the same sting.
At a June 12 hearing in Humboldt County Courthouse, his defense attorney raised the possibility that the state charges could be dismissed given that a federal case is now proceeding.
A conviction on any charge, state or federal, would require lifetime sex offender registration under California law.
Next, in the case of the People v. Destiny Ramey, an update on a Eureka manslaughter case that is going back to trial after a jury deadlocked earlier this year.
You might remember the name Destiny ramey. She's the 22 year old Eureka woman facing a retrial in the stabbing death of her roommate Holland Holly Elbick.
The first trial ended in a hung jury back in March and the judge declared a mistrial. Now the District Attorney's office is back prepared to go for a second attempt at the prosecution of Ramey for the same voluntary manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon.
The manslaughter charge carries a special allegation that Ramey personally used a knife.
That point is not disputed by Ramey, who admitted last March to the jury during her testimony that she had stabbed her roommate but asserted a self defense claim. The prosecution has been issuing subpoenas and requesting further DNA analysis in advance of the September trial.
Raymie remains out of custody on a $130,000 bond.
Elbick's family continues to wait for resolution and braces for another lengthy trial process nearly three years after the death of Holland Elbeck.
Lastly, in the case of the People vs. Marion Miller, a man who allegedly tried to kill an Arcata police officer heads to trial in a case that has steadily been making its way through the court for more than two years. Mental health diversion and a military diversion were both abandoned and now the case is going to trial.
Marion author mirth Miller is 39 years old and has been held in Humboldt County Jail since June of 2024.
That's over 750 days in custody.
Miller faces serious charges, including attempted murder of a police officer.
According to prosecutors, on June 1, 2024, Miller attempted to kill Arcata police Officer Riley Tippen. The charges against him also include assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and criminal threats.
The details of the incident are not described in the complaint.
The DA described the alleged attempted murder as willful, deliberate and premeditated.
The case had pursued both a mental health diversion petition and a military diversion petition, a process available to veterans with service related conditions like ptsd.
However, for reasons unknown, both avenues have now been withdrawn. With those options off the table, the case heads straight to trial.
Miller's trial is scheduled for July 13, less than four weeks from now.
For KMUD News and Red Headed Black Belt, I'm Ryan Hudson.
[00:19:56] Speaker B: The Road Information program, a Washington, D.C. based nonprofit, held a presentation on the state of California's road infrastructure, KMUD News reports.
Today, June 18, the Washington, D.C. based nonprofit TRIP, which stands for the Road Information Program, held a press briefing discussing their newest report on the current overall condition of California's road system.
The ZOOM meeting was held with journalists in attendance and with comments from multiple California policymakers and transportation authorities. Rocky Moretti, TRIP's director of policy and research, led the presentation and presented the group's findings.
One of the unique points Moretti made was that increases in state funding for infrastructure projects has been offset by large increases in construction costs.
[00:20:45] Speaker E: Unfortunately, these boosts in funding have been significantly hampered by a significant increase in highway construction inflation.
Since 2022, we've seen inflation for highway construction roads, for highways, for bridges, for bike paths, for sidewalks increased by 52%.
Obviously, that's had a significant detrimental impact on the buying power of California's dollars in terms of transportation.
[00:21:12] Speaker B: Rocky Moretti, Director of Policy and Research for the Road Information Program, also gave examples of California's crumbling infrastructure, including in well funded urban municipalities. He states that over half of San Francisco Bay Area roads are currently in poor condition.
[00:21:29] Speaker E: The TRIP report found that 51% of major roadways in the San Francisco Oakland area have pavements in poor condition. Another 23% are rated in mediocre condition.
[00:21:40] Speaker B: The Road Information Program report also took a look at California's bridges, many of which are in substandard condition.
Rocky Moretti argues that bridges, even in fair condition, can result in far higher maintenance costs.
[00:21:55] Speaker E: The trip report also notes that 5% of bridges in California are in poor condition and in need of immediate repair, although they're not closed because the inspections show that they're still safe for travel. And 48%, essentially half of California's bridges are rated in fair condition. These are bridges that local and state governments are doing their best through routine maintenance to keep open to traffic. These are bridges very vulnerable to fall into poor condition where the repairs are going to be significantly more costly.
[00:22:25] Speaker B: The 5% of California bridges that are in poor or structurally deficient condition are in need of immediate replacement. A recent incident in Northern California includes the Green Bridge near Covelo in rural Mendocino county, which collapsed with a vehicle involved on the evening of June 12, Assemblymember Laurie Wilson, from California's 11th district, was also a speaker during the trip report meeting.
She expressed grave concern at the current state of California's road infrastructure and conveyed that climate change has added to additional stress on the state's road systems.
[00:23:00] Speaker E: If we want a transportation network that keeps people safe or keeps pace with our people and our economy, we have to be honest about the funding challenges ahead and start planning for what comes next.
Our roads and our bridges are aging, our congestion challenges are growing and our infrastructure is under increasing pressure from climate impacts, storms, sea level rise, wildfires and extreme weather.
And these aren't abstract problems. They show up in people's daily lives. Longer commutes, unreliable travel time, safety concerns and higher cost for families and businesses.
[00:23:43] Speaker B: Rural areas often have difficulties with infrastructure funding and that includes much of the Northern California coast. It will be challenging for the State of California to combat increased construction costs and a large amount of infrastructure in need of repair or replacement.
Reporting for kmud, I'm April Lewis.
June 19th is Juneteenth Day, a national holiday that is also commemorated in a county proclamation approved by the Board of Supervisors. Daniel Mintz reports.
[00:24:17] Speaker A: The strength, creativity and leadership of Black communities in Humboldt county and beyond has been noted by the Board of Supervisors in a proclamation commemorating Juneteenth.
Celebrated on June 19, Juneteenth National Independence Day is a federally recognized holiday commemorating the end of slavery in America.
Supervisors honored it with a proclamation at their June 16 meeting.
The proclamation nods to policymaking, saying Juneteenth quote serves as a reminder that work remains to be done to ensure equitable access to opportunity for Black residents, including the pursuit of strategies that improve access to education, economic development, housing and land based initiatives.
Also noted is the multi day Juneteenth cultural festival from June 18 to June 21 with the Juneteenth Day Festival held June 20 at Halvorson park in Eureka.
The festival is hosted by the local NAACP branch and Black Humboldt.
Mo Harper, desear of Black Humboldt, talked about the significance of Juneteenth and how it relates to Black Humboldt's community work.
[00:25:36] Speaker F: Juneteenth is certainly more than a date on a calendar. It is something that's been celebrated by Black communities for a century, well before the federal government decided to make it a holiday. And it is an ongoing reminder that freedom has never simply been handed down.
It has been dreamed of. It has been organized for, fought for, protected, celebrated and now it gets to be passed forward by Black communities across generations, which is a really empowering feat. But it asks us to remember the truth of our history, while also asking what kind of future we are brave enough to build. And for Black Humboldt, that work is local, it's living, and it's deeply necessary.
We exist because black and brown communities on the north coast deserve more than survival. We deserve spaces where our joy is not an afterthought, where our culture is not treated as a special occasion, where leadership is trusted and sought after and our children can see themselves reflected.
[00:26:36] Speaker A: The Juneteenth festival is part of that work. And Harper desear said the theme of this year's festival is quote, honoring the past to see the future, which reminds us that remembrance is not passive.
She explained how the festival is only one small part of the ecosystem that we are continuously building.
[00:26:55] Speaker F: Juneteenth is one of the many spaces that Black Humboldt builds where people can gather without having to shrink, translate or explain who we are as a community.
Very much with an emphasis on black folks being far from, from a monolith and us taking space in many racial, ethnic and different countries all across the world.
And so culturally affirming space is not a luxury. It's a form of safety, it's a form of health. It's a form of self determination. It allows communities to name our own needs, to design our own solutions, tell our own stories and build programs, gatherings and institutions for us and by us. And this is the exact work that Block Humboldt is committed to and we put a lot of love and strength and power into.
[00:27:47] Speaker A: Harper Desir described black Humboldt's work, which includes youth leadership programs, arts and culture support, business development and wellness programs.
Black Humboldt is, quote, also dreaming really big with a vision of an innovation hub where a variety of programs and initiatives will be headquartered.
Board chair Mike Wilson said social progress is a community wide effort.
[00:28:14] Speaker G: I just want to say that I'm proud and grateful to just play even the smallest role in this community, recognition and associate myself with everything mo put out there in terms of just a real appreciation of the, the arc of history and appreciation again, not just of all the sacrifice and the work that people have put in to promote liberation and freedom for not just one group of people, but for everybody. Because we all are connected and we all need to work together on this.
[00:28:49] Speaker A: Juneteenth was established as a federal holiday in 2021. The proclamation details the historical event. It's based on saying on June 19, 1865, Union troops arrived in Galveston, Texas to enforce the Emancipation Proclamation informing the last enslaved African Americans of their freedom. More than two years after President Abraham Lincoln had issued the proclamation in Eureka for KMUD News. This is Daniel Mintz.
[00:29:22] Speaker B: That's all for our news broadcast. Thanks for listening. Thanks to our rotation of broadcast engineers.
Dennis Marr, Katie Phillips, Bianna Federico, Michael McCaskill, Larry Lashley and Javier Rodriguez. Also thanks to our reporters for this broadcast, Daniel Mintz and Ryan Hudson.
I'm April Lewis. Stay tuned in.
