The Friends of Moraga Canyon have contracted with Richard Grassetti of Grassetti Environmental Consulting (GeCo) to conduct a peer review of the impending Draft EIR for the Moraga Canyon Sports Fields in order to assess its technical adequacy and regulatory compliance.  Mr. Grassetti performed a similar review of the Initial Study for Artificial Turf and Lighting at Coaches Field and found numerous deficiencies in the documents which eventually led to the consolidation of the study of environmental impacts by the proposed ‘improvements’ to Coaches Field and Blair Park.

Mr. Grassetti is an environmental planner with over 20 years of experience in environmental impact analysis, hydrologic and geologic assessment, project management and regulatory compliance.  He is a recognized expert on California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and National Environmental Police Act (NEPA) processes and has served as an expert witness on CEQA and planning issues.  He has analyzed the environmental impacts of a wide range of projects including recreational facilities throughout the western United States.  In addition, Mr. Grassetti is an adjunct professor at California State University, Hayward, where he teaches courses on environmental impact assessment, among others.

Many believe that it was frivolous to conduct this EIR prior to a thorough assessment of potential uses of Blair Park, a more specific description of this project, any cost analysis, or input/review from the various city commissions.  However, because City Council voted to proceed with the EIR (at a total cost of $148,500), it is now in everyone’s best interest to ensure that the study is comprehensive, technically accurate, and follows all environmental safeguards provided by CEQA.

The EIR was originally scheduled to be presented on April 9^th, 2010, however because of additional studies required in response to the scoping sessions, the draft report has not been finalized to date.  A revised timeline is currently being prepared by LSA Associates and city staff and will be published on our website at moragacanyon.org as soon as it is made available to us.