The Bureau of Land Management will solicit public input on how
to best manage its Clear Creek Management Area
– a public land that the Environmental Protection Agency fears
poses health risks due to naturally occurring asbestos.
Hollister – The Bureau of Land Management will solicit public input on how to best manage its Clear Creek Management Area – a public land that the Environmental Protection Agency fears poses health risks due to naturally occurring asbestos.
The BLM’s Clear Creek Management Area is in southern San Benito County. The 63,000 acres of public land is a popular destination for off-highway vehicle enthusiasts, rock hounds, hikers and hunters.
Because of the asbestos, the EPA believes breathing dust in the area could cause cancer. The EPA has asked the BLM to consider limiting the use of, or even closing, the Clear Creek Management Area because it has been found to have high amounts of naturally occurring asbestos, said Sky Murphy, an environmental planning specialist for the Hollister Field Office of the BLM.
“That’s not our intention,” Murphy said. “I want to make that clear.”
BLM officials will hear the public’s thoughts about future management of the Clear Creek public lands Sept. 27 at the Veterans Memorial Building in Hollister.
Asbestos levels found at the Clear Creek Management Area in samples collected from a dirt bike’s dust trail in 2004 pose an “unacceptable cancer risk,” according to the EPA’s Web site. The recreation area sits atop “one of the largest naturally occurring asbestos deposits in the world,” the Web site stated.
EPA officials did not return a call for comment Monday.
The government has known about asbestos on the public land for decades.
“It’s been known for quite a long time,” Murphy said. “They actually mined it back in the day.”
On Friday, the BLM released the final update of its management plan for the entire Southern Diablo Range – which includes San Benito County and 11 other counties. Because of the EPA’s concern of health risks, the Clear Creek Management Area was not included in that plan, Murphy said.
The Clear Creek Management Area’s plan has not been updated since 1984, Murphy said.
Murphy encouraged members of the public to attend the meeting and voice opinions. He said that off-highway vehicle areas are becoming less frequent in California.
“(Off-highway vehicle) areas have been limited and continue to be closed for other reasons,” Murphy said.
