The California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission
has officially urged the federal government to reopen Clear Creek
Management Area while including recommendations for strategies to
minimize health risks.
The California Off-Highway Motor Vehicle Recreation Commission has officially urged the federal government to reopen Clear Creek Management Area while including recommendations for strategies to minimize health risks.
The commission last month sent a letter signed by its Chairman Eric Leuder that urged the reopening of the 63,000-acre Clear Creek Management Area in southern San Benito County. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management in the summer of 2008 closed the recreation area, largely used by off-road enthusiasts, and contended that asbestos levels there are dangerous.
The BLM had cited an Environmental Protection Agency study’s findings in closing the park and going through the process of potentially shutting it off from the general public for good.
The debate has underscored differing perspectives varying levels of government. County officials have urged the BLM to reopen it as well, and the latest recommendation from the commission signals state involvement now, too, as the off-highway panel is part off the California Department of Parks and Recreation.
The chairman’s letter notes the commission’s belief at the EPA study “did not fully consider available management options which the BLM could employ to allow continued public access to the area in a safe and responsible manner.”
It goes on: “It appears the EPA instead overstated the risks to human health from exposure to naturally occurring asbestos based on ‘worst case’ scenarios only.”
The letter says the commission in March 2010 called for its own study, specific to off-highway use, on exposure within the infamous “Serpentine Area” containing the highest risk levels. That study concluded that “management and operational strategies could be effectively employed at the CCMA to allow OHV recreation without exposing the public to unacceptable risk from exposure to naturally occurring asbestos.”
The commission’s letter says its own study demonstrated that riding can occur safely “under management scenarios” such as visitation being limited to five days per year.
