Delta tunnel advisory committee compelled to work through the pandemic
By: Scott Thomas Anderson May 12, 2020 • Sacramento News & Review
Were COVID-19-related concerns intentionally downplayed to the Delta Protection Committee?
Members of a committee designed to ensure Delta communities and tribal groups have their say in a proposed, life-changing tunnel project have been told to work through the coronavirus pandemic—or be left out of the process. Some committee members also claim that state officials misrepresented that fact to one of the most important commissions monitoring their efforts.
The dust-up has caused Sacramento County Supervisor Don Nottoli to challenge one state official about transparency, while the Delta Protection Commission has officially asked California planners to halt their work on the tunnel during the virus outbreak.
So far, that hasn’t happened.
The tunnel waits for no contagion
The rift between members of the Delta Conveyance Design and Construction Authority’s Stakeholder Engagement Committee, or SEC, and state officials came into glaring focus at an April 9 virtual meeting of the Delta Protection Commission….