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Tribal environmental director urges Inyo supervisors to restore full Great Basin board seat for District 5
Summary
Mel Joseph of the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Reservation told the board the District 5 supervisor should be a full member (not an alternate) on the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District Board, citing Owens Lakebed pollution and environmental-justice concerns.
During public comment at the Jan. 14 Inyo County special meeting, Mel Joseph, environmental director for the Lone Pine Paiute-Shoshone Reservation, urged the Board of Supervisors to appoint the District 5 supervisor as a full member of the Great Basin Unified Air Pollution Control District Board rather than as an alternate.
Joseph told the board District 5 "contains the worst source of air pollution in the nation" and argued that seating the newly elected District 5 supervisor only as an alternate would leave that community without full representation on matters related to the Owens Lakebed project and air-quality oversight. "This is a complete representation disaster in the making," Joseph said, adding that the practice raises equality and environmental-justice concerns.
Joseph said that, historically, the District 5 supervisor has been seated as a full member of the Great Basin board and urged the county to restore that practice so constituents affected by regional dust and air-quality issues have a full voice in the air-district's decisions. The board did not record a formal response or action on the comment during the session.
