Broadened environmental law urged

     Associated Press
      TRUCKEE, Calif. -- Two recent oil spills in the Sierra Nevada have prompted a call for expanding strict environmental laws protecting California coastal waters to include mountain lakes and streams.
      At a hearing Friday in Truckee, California's Assembly Select Committee on Coastal Protection heard testimony on a bill to broaden the 1990 Oil Spill and Prevention Response Act.
      "This bill is needed for precisely the kind of situation that recently occurred at Donner Lake, where investigators found oil in the water believed to be caused by a leaking pipeline," said Assemblyman Ted Lempert, D-Palo Alto, co-author of the 1990 act.
      "If we add this proposal to the law, prosecutors will have a stronger tool to help ensure that similar spills are prevented in the future."
      The three-hour meeting was attended by representatives from the California Lands Commission, California Department of Fish and Game, Sierra Club and Western States Petroleum Association.
      The 1990 act provides criminal and administrative penalties for negligent and intentional oil discharges into coastal waters, and Assembly Bill 667 would broaden it to include mountain lakes and streams.
      The three-member select committee also heard testimony on the recent oil spills that contaminated two Sierra lakes west of Truckee.
      A break discovered March 1 in the Santa Fe Pacific Pipeline sent an undetermined amount of oil into Summit Creek, a tributary of Donner Lake.
      And a Feb. 26 spill involving a Union Pacific Railroad tanker sent nearly 17,500 gallons of fuel into a tributary of Lake Van Norden.
      Pipeline and railroad officials told the committee that neither spill posed a public health threat, even though fuel was carried into the lakes.
      But Craig Calonica said the pipeline break ended his plans for an outdoor adventure school for children with cancer. His property is located only 400 feet from the break.
      "The financing has stopped, everything has come to a halt. My property just became worthless," he said.
      "One thing's for sure, they were negligent in the way they inspect their pipes for leaks ... They say they don't know how long it has been leaking, but people have been smelling fuel since October."