After writing my little epic on the Docks DEIR, I received a lot of great feedback. Native Sacramentan and published historian William Burg provided me with an interesting insight into the history of the Docks area. Here are a few excerpts from our conversation. To read the full conversation, attached to "The Docks' DEIR: part I", click on the "storyline" tab, or simply click here). WILLIAM BURG: "Underutilized" basically means "there's something here, but we'd like to do something else with it." "Undeveloped" implies land that has never been developed into anything, like open forest land. Perhaps a better way to describe the Docks area, or the corner of 8th & K, both of which were intens

The end is near! This is the final installment of my summary of the Docks Environmental Impact Report. To access the previous articles on the Docks Project and the DIER, click on the "storyline" tab to the right. Section seven of the DEIR, details the possible impacts that noise will have on various aspects of the project. Construction is noisy and will likely generate a lot of noise in the area and its surroundings. However, since the project area will be developed in parcels, one parcel completed at a time, the increased noise levels won't be a problem until the residential area is completed. To stifle the noise, plywood noise barriers will be built around construction sites. Construct

In my previous story, The Docks' DEIR: part I (which you can find by clicking the "storyline" tab), I summarized the possible harmful impacts that the Docks Plan could have on the environment. The last article was all about aesthetics, light and glare, air quality, and biological resources. In this article, I am going to discuss three more areas of environmental interest: cultural and historic resources, hazards and hazardous substances, and hydrology and water quality. "Cultural and Historic Resources" is the fourth topic of chapter five. It basically deals with any artifacts, sites, objects, etc., that are either at least 50 years old or have sacred or religious meaning. The main issue

If you've read my article on the Docks Area Project, the first story in this storyline, and the conversation stemming from it, you might be wondering, "What is this DEIR? Is it really 500 pages long?" The DEIR is the Docks Environmental Impact Report, and yes, it is incredibly long. So I've decided to highlight some of the basics, focusing mainly on Chapter 5: Environmental Analysis. This is the chapter outlining all of the possible environmental impacts and the proposed plans to mitigate the problems. The chapter is broken down into eleven categories, nine of which I am going to outline for you. These nine sections detail the impacts of specific environmental aspects. The first section,