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| INSIGHT<br />
THE SUPES MUST SAVE<br />
DIABLO<br />
BY KARA WOODRUFF AND SAM BLAKESLEE<br />
Some people like it, others do not. But the truth remains the same: Pacific Gas & Electric is<br />
closing its Diablo Canyon Nuclear Power Plant by 2025. And, yes, this will significantly impact our<br />
community. It also presents an unprecedented opportunity to conserve and make available for<br />
public enjoyment the Diablo Canyon Lands, some 12,000 acres of unspoiled and scenic coastal<br />
bluffs and rugged mountains surrounding the plant which are no longer needed by PG&E. And that<br />
great opportunity lies in the hands of our very own San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors:<br />
John Peschong, Bruce Gibson, Adam Hill, Lynn Compton, and Debbie Arnold.<br />
At its August 20, <strong>2019</strong><br />
meeting, the Supervisors<br />
unanimously agreed to act<br />
as the lead agency for the<br />
California Environmental<br />
Quality Act (CEQA)<br />
process to decommission<br />
Diablo Canyon. And, since<br />
no other state or local<br />
agency seems to want the<br />
job, it’s likely a done deal. This means that the county<br />
will do three things: prepare the Environmental<br />
Impact Report (EIR) for all decommissioning<br />
activities (including the removal of equipment,<br />
structures, and facilities); issue permits to undertake<br />
those activities; and, identify necessary mitigation<br />
to offset the substantial impacts to the environment<br />
and local communities that are the unavoidable<br />
consequences of decommissioning.<br />
It is the third item listed above—mitigation—where<br />
history will ultimately judge whether our Supervisors<br />
faced or failed an opportunity of a lifetime. If they face the opportunity, a world-class outdoor<br />
public recreational area can be created, bringing tourism dollars to the region while protecting<br />
scenic views, natural habitat, and wildlife. If the Supervisors fail to seize this opportunity,<br />
however, they will fail their constituents, and these precious lands may go the way of Southern<br />
California-style suburban development.<br />
Diablo Canyon’s decommissioning will be the largest, most complex EIR ever undertaken by the<br />
county. Likewise, the impacts created by the dismantling of all equipment, structure, and facilities<br />
will be the largest, most complex and mitigation-worthy event in the county’s history. The cost<br />
of the decommissioning (as estimated by PG&E and supported by the Board of Supervisors)<br />
is $4.8 billion—it will be a herculean endeavor. And imagine the impacts that come along with<br />
dismantling the massive industrial complex that is Diablo Canyon, as it creates decades of air<br />
and water quality degradation, dust, noise, and tens of thousands of trucks lumbering down<br />
Avila Beach Drive, as they haul away countless tons of heavy construction debris. This will be our<br />
burden to bear as residents of the Central Coast along with, of course, the existence of over 2,500<br />
metric-tons of radioactive spent nuclear fuel (the most toxic substance known to man) that will<br />
likely remain in our backyard for decades or more to come.<br />
So, it’s fair to ask: What is the appropriate mitigation for this jaw-dropping decommissioning<br />
burden? At a very minimum, it is the conservation of the Diablo Canyon Lands. All 12,000<br />
acres. The Supervisors need to require this outcome as a meaningful offset for what our<br />
community will endure these next several decades. >><br />
54 | <strong>SLO</strong> <strong>LIFE</strong> MAGAZINE | OCT/NOV <strong>2019</strong>
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