Stay Informed

Stay on top of all of the environmental issues that are happening out there. Learn the background on current issues, our activities related to those issues, and other things of note about our environment, both locally and beyond.

Press Releases and Statements

In the News

  • Letter to the Editor: The potential damage from ‘Redwood Life’ megaproject
    The San Mateo Daily Journal
    May 8, 2026

    "Regarding your article “Life sciences treading water,” the proposed life sciences megaproject, “Redwood Life” is still aggressively moving forward along the shoreline of Redwood Shores. This huge project is fundamentally mismatched to its location. The site is subsiding on former landfill, already vulnerable to sea-level rise and rising groundwater within the dump itself — hardly a stable foundation for such an ambitious development.[...]" - Gita Dev, Conservation Committee Chair

  • Council approves levee project to protect $8B in Redwood Shores assets
    Redwood City Pulse
    February 10, 2026

    "Gita Dev, a spokesperson for the Sierra Club, said at Monday’s meeting that she’s frustrated that city staff failed to publish the results of the community survey before recommending a major design update." 

  • Letters: Cemetery would ruin Coyote Valley’s value
    The Mercury News
    February 5, 2026

    "The proposed Heritage Oaks Cemetery in Coyote Valley threatens one of the Bay Area’s most important natural landscapes. Coyote Valley isn’t just open space for recreation; it’s a critical wildlife corridor and a key groundwater recharge zone that helps protect our region from drought and flooding. Converting a sizeable amount of this land into a large cemetery would permanently damage an ecosystem that local voters and policymakers have repeatedly prioritized for conservation." - Jennifer Normoyle

  • Council to wrestle with artificial turf issue
    Palo Alto Daily Post
    January 6, 2026

    "[...] Gita Dev from the Loma Prieta chapter of the Sierra Club said in an email that she wants the council to “roll up the old plastic grass carpet” and keep the material away from children. We hope that you will do the right thing by our kids and not have them breathe plastics, be burned by plastic when they fall, and have a healthy childhood.”

  • Redwood Shores: There's No Place Like Home
    The PILOT
    December 5, 2025
    Page 7

    "As the holidays grace our homes and we share feasts, gifts, and visits with friends and family, we also share our knowledge that Redwood Shores is more than a neighborhood — it’s a living, breathing symphony of nature. Each morning begins with a chorus of shorebirds, their cheerful chatter rising with the sun. Te Bay stretches out before us, changing hues as the day unfolds. Te breezes carry whispers of salt and calm, reminding us that we live at the gentle edge between land and sea."

  • Water district picks five projects totaling $3.9 billion to boost water supplies by 2050
    The Mercury News
    November 14, 2025

    "“The Delta tunnel is a huge mega-project like high speed rail,” said Katja Irvin, with the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta chapter. “It’s going to continue to have problems. The cost is going to continue to go up. It’s unclear if water agencies are ever going to want to pony up to pay for it.”

  • County Water District weighs cost of failed Pacheco Reservoir expansion
    BenitoLink
    October 29, 2025

    "Sierra Club Loma Prieta Guadalupe Group conservation chair Katja Irvin said it was always a concern that the county water district would get caught up in the project’s “exploding costs” at least partly due to impacts on habitat and wildlife, as well as traffic on Hwy 152 during years of construction. She suggested the district commit to evaluating such environmental concerns before participating in future projects. Irvin has previously requested the district conduct a review of its participation in the project."

  • Facing federal limits, Palo Alto leans on new technology to lower aircraft noise
    Palo Alto Online
    September 29, 2025

    "The City Council paused the effort in September 2024 after heavy criticism from residents of Palo Alto, East Palo Alto -– and, to a lesser extent, Menlo Park – about the proposed expansion’s potential impacts on both the Baylands ecosystem and air traffic over residential neighborhoods. A coalition of nonprofit groups that included the Sierra Club and Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance were among the opponents of the expansion, as they made clear in a letter they submitted to the council."

  • Letters: Put fire safety focus on neighborhoods, not backcountry
    The Mercury News
    September 16, 2025

    "The front-page story from Sept. 7 underscores an important truth: California’s wildfire strategy must evolve. As catastrophic fires become an annual reality, our leaders must prioritize protecting lives and homes — not remote wilderness areas. Scientific evidence continues to show that thinning forests in distant backcountry areas does little to shield communities from fast-moving, wind-driven wildfires. Instead, resources should be redirected toward proven measures: defensible space around homes, ember-resistant building materials, community wildfire preparation and local fire mitigation efforts. Gov. Newsom and legislative leaders must recognize that the frontlines of wildfire defense are neighborhoods, not remote ridgelines."

  • Planning for a Resilient, Wild and Welcoming Redwood Shores
    The PILOT
    September 8, 2025
    Page 6

    "Here in Redwood Shores, our 19-square-mile island is encircled by levees—our protective ring against the Bay. But times are changing. With sea levels on the rise, we’ve already begun to see parts of the Shores flood during extreme high tides. Last year, as FEMA updated its flood maps, Redwood City completed a Sea Level Rise (SLR) Adaptation Plan to prepare for the future. Since then, California has introduced new state laws that raise the bar for coastal planning. Now, all local adaptation plans must align with the Regional Shoreline Adaptation Plan (RSAP), a framework designed to address not just each city’s needs, but the well-being of the entire San Francisco Bay."

  • Letter to the Editor: Bay’s health is critical to health of region
    The Mercury News
    September 2, 2025

    "The Bay is often valued only for its inimitable beauty and recreational opportunities, but its natural shorelines, marshes and wetlands labor every moment of every day to provide us with clean air and water, moderate temperatures, protection from storm surge waves and much more. Rich shallow water habitats also nurture life, from fragile hatchlings that sustain our commercial fisheries to the vast abundance of birds and wildlife that call it home. This is all at risk of being lost to sea level rise." - Gita Dev

  • Controversial Santa Clara County dam expansion scrapped
    San Jose Spotlight
    August 27, 2025

    "A coalition of environmental advocates, local Indigenous tribes and landowners have been pushing the board to cancel the project for years, even suing Valley Water in 2022. Katja Irvin, Guadalupe group conservation chair for the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta Chapter, said they’re “ecstatic” the project’s being shelved.

    The project would have impacted more than 28,000 acres of designated critical habitat around the assessment area. Irvin said it would have destroyed dozens of landscapes with unique plants, such as a rare Sycamore woodlands habitat and various animal species including California red-legged frogs and the California tiger salamander.

    “There’s always issues to look at, but this one was so huge it was just so much more important and more environmentally impactful than anything else they’re doing, exponentially more, so this is such a relief,” Irvin told San José Spotlight. “It’s a happy day for the environment.”

  • Santa Clara County polluted creek cleanup near cement plant starts
    San Jose Spotlight
    August 4, 2025

    "Katja Irvin, Guadalupe Group Conservation chair of the Sierra Club Loma Prieta chapter, said the pollution of selenium and nickel from the quarry and plant in the creek are detrimental to the environment. The creek runs into the San Francisco Bay and was home to the threatened steelhead trout. Irvin said the Sierra Club is relieved the restoration is finally happening after years of delays, adding the organization will be monitoring Heidelberg Materials to ensure it’s done right. 'The whole creek has been kind of overloaded with selenium, and so hopefully this will allow removing that overburden from the mining,' she told San José Spotlight. 'The whole water quality in the creek in general is going to be a big plus.'”

  • Heidelberg Materials to start Cupertino quarry clean up
    Global Cement
    July 25, 2025

    "The work was required as part of the settlement to a lawsuit filed in 2011 by the Sierra Club against Lehigh Southwest Cement company, which was subsequently acquired by Heidelberg Materials." [...] "Environmental groups have said the work is overdue. "We're relieved that it's finally actually happening,' said Katja Irvin, Guadalupe Group chair of the Sierra Club's Loma Prieta Chapter, based in Palo Alto. 'There is mining waste in the creek, and concrete barriers in the creek. The slopes have been eroded. All of those problems eventually will be fixed.'"

  • Project to revive health of Permanente Creek, damaged by quarry operation, breaks ground
    Local News Matters
    July 25, 2025

    “The project follows a federal court order signed by both grassroots environmental organization Sierra Club and building materials supplier Lehigh Southwest Cement Company, mandating that Lehigh restore 3.5 miles of watershed by 2030. In 2011, Sierra Club filed a lawsuit against the company, alleging that its quarry was illegally discharging high levels of toxic metals into the creek.” […] “The creek houses rainbow trout and California red-legged frogs, a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, according to the Sierra Club. “This long-overdue restoration project will finally address the decades of toxic pollution that residents have been forced to live with. Clean water, a place for our kids to play and fish and a healthy habitat for local wildlife is all we want. It’s a big relief that these things are finally within reach,” said Mike Ferreira, chair of the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta Chapter.”

  • Cupertino Quarry Owner Begins $25 Million Permanente Creek Cleanup Effort
    KQED
    July 23, 2025

    "Mike Ferreira, chair of the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta chapter, said the restoration project is long overdue and will finally address “decades of toxic pollution that residents have been forced to live with.” “We are relieved that we have finally gotten to this point,” he said. Permanente Creek flows past the facility before heading north through Mountain View and Los Altos as it makes its way to the bay. The waterway provides important habitat for rainbow trout and California red-legged frogs, which are listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, the Sierra Club said."

  • Cupertino quarry owner to begin multimillion-dollar cleanup of mining waste in creek
    The Mercury News
    July 22, 2025

    "Environmental groups said the work is overdue. 'We’re relieved that it’s finally actually happening,' said Katja Irvin, Guadalupe Group chair of the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta Chapter, based in Palo Alto. 'There is mining waste in the creek, and concrete barriers in the creek,' she added. 'The slopes have been eroded. All of those problems eventually will be fixed. It’s definitely taken a long time. But it’s going to bring the creek back to a habitat that can support fish like steelhead and trout.'”

  • City To Host Ribbon Cutting Ceremony Celebrating Permanente Creek Restoration
    SFGATE
    July 21, 2025

    “Permanente Creek sits upstream of Cupertino and flows into the San Francisco Bay. The creek houses rainbow trout and California red-legged frogs, a species listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, according to a press release from the Sierra Club. "This long-overdue restoration project will finally address the decades of toxic pollution that residents have been forced to live with. Clean water, a place for our kids to play and fish and a healthy habitat for local wildlife is all we want. It's a big relief that these things are finally within reach," said Mike Ferreira, chair of the Sierra Club's Loma Prieta Chapter.”

  • Bayfront Redevelopment on a Landfill Sparks Pollution and Flood Concerns
    Knee Deep Times
    July 16, 2025

    "A contentious plan to redevelop an office park at the edge of Belmont Slough is spotlighting the challenges that closed landfills can create for planners and cities trying to protect their shores from rising waters. The property is one of approximately 50 such sites ringing the Bay. [...]

    Gita Dev, of the Sierra Club’s Loma Prieta chapter, says her group is concerned that not enough is known about the condition of the landfill and the impact of development on the surrounding ecosystem, including the Redwood Shores Ecological Reserve.  

    “What might drilling hundreds of piles do in terms of releases of toxins into the Bay, into the wildlife refuge? We think they should not proceed until they have a better idea of the potential damage,” she says."

  • Sierra Club organizes tour of sustainable grass sports fields for local officials
    Citizen Portal
    May 20, 2025

    "At the recent Sunnyvale Sustainability Commission meeting, the spotlight was on the urgent need to address plastic pollution in sports fields. Susan Hinton, chair of the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter's Plastic Pollution Prevention Committee, passionately advocated for a visit to sustainable natural grass sports fields in the Bay Area.

    Hinton highlighted the environmental and public health risks posed by plastic grass, urging city officials and staff from Sunnyvale and neighboring cities to witness successful examples of drought-tolerant, sustainably managed fields. She pointed to McKeagney Green in Tiburon, a thriving sports field that has become a model for community use and environmental stewardship since its installation in 2018."

  • Redwood City advances study of controversial life sciences park expansion
    The Mercury News
    April 16, 2025

    "Several residents and environmental groups voiced opposition to the project curing Monday’s meeting, raising concerns about light and noice pollution, wildlife disruption, and possible environmental issues du to the scale of the development. Gita Dev of the Sierra Club said the alternative  proposal fell short of  addressing community concerns. “A vote today would abruptly cut off community feedback on this developer’s alternative,” Dev said. “The alternative was presented as a 20% reduction in project size, but in retrospect, it’s merely a 13.7% reduction. This is extremely minor in response to the magnitude of the concerns that were raised.”

  • Redwood City to review scaled-back version of Redwood LIFE project
    Redwood City Pulse
    April 16, 2025

    "Gita Dev, sustainable land use chair and conservation committee chair of the Sierra Club, said the development would threaten wildlife habitats along the Belmont Slough, a designated refuge for birds and other species."...
    "Dev, however, argued that the proposed alternative 2 fails to address environmental risks, including flooding and sea-level rise. According to her, the project poses a sea-level rise risk because it is located on a low-lying former landfill site with no bottom liner. As sea levels and groundwater rise, there is a danger that toxins from the landfill could be pushed up and released into surrounding areas, including the adjacent Belmont Slough. “It’s just the same as having no alternative,” she said."
     
  • Palo Alto council presses for stricter ‘dark sky’ law
    Palo Alto Online
    April 8, 2025

    "Advocates from the Santa Clara Valley Bird Alliance and the Sierra Club similarly argued that the city needs to take a more aggressive stance toward light pollution. Shani Kleinhaus, who represented the Bird Alliance, argued that the applicability criteria of the proposed ordinance actually “degrades the protections that residents and the environment in Palo Alto currently enjoy.” She cited one local resident who complained to code enforcement after her neighbor across the street flashed three projectors into her house. “If the ordinance moves forward as is, applying only to new construction that becomes legal, she can no longer ask code enforcement to ask neighbors to turn the light off or turn it down instead of into her home or anything. Basically, any existing property is now exempt,” Kleinhaus said."
     
  • Palo Alto to consider ordinance regulating light at night
    KCBS Radio
    April 4, 2025

    Featuring Dashiell Leeds, Loma Prieta Chapter Conservation Organizer.
     

  • Palo Alto to consider new 'dark sky' ordinance to reduce light pollution. But how far will it go?
    ABC7 News
    April 2, 2025

    "Dashiell Leeds is a conservation coordinator with Sierra Club Loma Prieta. "Oh my gosh all sorts of stars, I know folks love to go up the mountains and it's amazing the difference you can see," Leeds said. Next week, Leeds will present to the city of Palo Alto reasons why they should make amendments to their outdoor lighting regulations. It's referred to as the 'dark sky' ordinance. The Sierra Club Loma Prieta and Santa Clara Audubon Society, now known as the Santa Clara County Bird Alliance, have been advocating to the city to adopt 'dark sky' standards for a while. It's meant to reduce light pollution and protect the natural night environment."

  • Opinion: What ‘Three Little Pigs’ can teach us about wildfire preparedness
    San Mateo Daily Journal
    March 17, 2025
    By Karen Maki, Loma Prieta Chapter's Forest Protection Committee Chair

    "How to protect a home from fire, to “ harden” to fire, is well known by fire professionals. CalFire and San Mateo County Firesafe Council explain what is needed on their websites, including eliminating flammable material within 5 feet of the building. They also suggest additional actions such as installing class A roofs instead of wood shake shingles, replacing wood exterior walls with stucco or brick, covering rooftop vents, and installing double-paned tempered glass windows that don’t easily break during a fire and expose the vulnerable flammable interior of the house to fire."
     

  • Developing East Palo Alto’s Ravenswood Business District means confronting a legacy of contamination
    The Almanac
    March 13, 2025

    "Naomi Goodman, a retired environmental professional with over 40 years of experience characterizing chemical contamination, said that plumes of volatile organic compounds such as trichloroethylene, benzene and vinyl chloride extend up to 80 feet deep in the groundwater and soil at the Romic site. Investigations conducted between 1985 and 2020, also revealed the presence of metals, polychlorinated biphenols (PCBs), dioxins and furans.

    “(The site) accepted drums of God knows what kind of solvents,” said Goodman, who has been working with the Sierra Club to advocate for cleanup efforts in East Palo Alto. “They treated them, and, in some cases, stored them in unlined impoundments. (The site is) still highly contaminated.”

    Goodman said prolonged exposure to these chemicals could pose serious health effects. 

    “VOCs, some of them are cancer-causing, like benzene, others have non cancer health effects, such as damage to the kidney or liver, reproductive health impacts like low birth weight, neurotoxicity, it really depends what chemical you’re talking about,” she said, adding that certain VOCs can cause respiratory problems, as well as nausea and headaches."

  • Opinion: Plastic turf carries high cost for human health and the planet
    The Mercury News
    January 25, 2025

    "For years, plastic turf was seen as an environmentally friendly and water-saving alternative to natural grass during California’s persistent drought. But new information from studies about its harmful effects has led countries, states, cities and counties to reconsider its use and weigh its risks against the benefits. The long-term detrimental effects of plastic turf in public areas, as opposed to natural grass, can have crippling effects on both public health and the environment.

    The Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to consider on Tuesday an ordinance prohibiting new installations of plastic artificial turf on county property. This measure, brought forward by us and supported by numerous community organizations and advocates, aims to protect the health and safety of the environment and community, particularly children. These organizations and advocates include the Santa Clara County Medical Association (SCCMA), Green Foothills, Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, numerous local students, a coalition of concerned parents and more."

  • Artificial turf opponents rally ahead of vote on controversial Santa Clara County ban 
    NBC Bay Area
    January, 24, 2025

    "Santa Clara County Supervisor Otto Lee and proponents of his proposal to ban artificial turf on county-owned land rallied in San Jose Friday, just days before the board is expected to vote on the controversial proposal. 

    Lee proposed the ban last year, citing toxic chemicals commonly found in the components of artificial turf fields, along with environmental concerns such as microplastic pollution and limited recycling options for plastic fields at the end of their lifespans.

    Lee was joined at the press conference by representatives from local environmental groups supporting the ban, such as Susan Hinton from the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter, who cited a global plastic pollution problem and human health concerns.

    “Those chemicals of concern, some of them are known to harm wildlife, others are known to harm humans,” Hinton said of chemicals often found in artificial turf fields."

  • Vote Cinches Robust Regional Response to Sea Level Rise
    Knee Deep Times
    December 18, 2024

    "After RSAP’s first release in September, there was push and there was pull. Local governments and others objected to some of the mandatory standards proposed, calling for 'flexibility.' A November draft tacked in that direction, changing quite a few 'musts' to 'should' and demoting some of the Standards to 'planning tips.' Now it was the turn of the environmental coalition, some forty groups, to decry a 'watering-down.' Further redrafting ensued.

    The result of these contending pressures seems, surprisingly, to please nearly everyone nearly well enough. 'We seem to have found the sweet spot,' says BCDC planning director Jessica Fain. The Sierra Club’s Gita Dev agrees: 'We are very happy with the results of the RSAP. Now,' she goes on, 'it’s time to get serious about execution.'”

  • The Bay Area Now Has Its First-Ever Regional Sea Level Rise Plan
    KQED
    December 6, 2024

    "Arthur Feinstein, who chairs the Sierra Club’s Coordinated Bay Alive Committee, said he’s disappointed that the new plan “weakened some standards” around preserving undeveloped shoreline lands and nature-based sea level rise adaptation strategies.

    'They could have gone back and said that you must apply these standards instead of you must consider these standards,' Feinstein said. 'That alone would change how it’s going to be implemented because it’s so much more forceful.'”

  • Turning San Francisco Bay into a bathtub
    POLITICO, California Climate
    December 4, 2024

    "Environmental groups, though also generally supportive of the plan, aren’t happy with those changes. Forty environmental groups including the Sierra Club and San Francisco Baykeeper argued in a letter to the agency that any weakening of the standards leaves the door open to uneven adaptation, with better-resourced areas pushing flooding and toxic contamination on to disadvantaged neighbors.

    'If everybody reacts to the sea level rise with a levee or a sea wall, then the bay would turn into a bathtub,' said Gita Dev, vice chair of the Bay Alive campaign for the region’s three Sierra Club chapters. 'You still need a plan that works for the whole region and will take care of sea-level rise over time into the future.'"

  • A tale of two turfs: Bay Area residents split over using artificial grass
    The Mercury News
    October 15, 2024

    "Susan Hinton, however, said cities and school districts can still invest their resources into keeping and installing grass fields, especially since artificial turf wears out after eight to 10 years and needs to be replaced. “There are many reasons to not put artificial turf on the landscape or anywhere,” said Hinton, a member of the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter who actively campaigns against artificial turf. Dashiell Leeds, conservation organizer at the chapter, said natural grass can allow for just as much playing time as turf can. Leeds believes Local governments and school districts should explore grass as a safer alternative to turf, as the later can expose athletes and ecosystems to microplastics. “At the end of the day, we want kids to play on these fields and get play time,” he said. “We want to encourage jurisdictions to explore natural grass field management techniques to meet the needs of the community. They can be met with natural grass.”"
  • As the world heats up, so does the debate around artificial turf
    The New Lede
    August 20, 2024

    "Susan Hinton, a plastics pollution prevention advocate with the Loma Prieta Chapter of the Sierra Club, has taken up a habit of holding an infrared thermometer to artificial turf fields and residential lawns on hot days to test its temperature. Her community, in Santa Clara County, is one of many across California that are considering or currently implementing bans on the product following a 2023 bill allowing the move. Hinton has measured the turf at temperatures between 150 and 180 degrees on warm summer days, she said."
  • Regional plan to fight sea-level rise underway
    San Mateo Daily Journal
    July 18, 2024

    Featuring Jennifer Hetterly, Bay Alive Campaign Coordinator
     

  • Concerns over sea barrier grow
    The Daily Journal
    December 28, 2023

    Featuring Gita Dev,  Sierra Club Bay Alive Campaign Vice-Chair and Loma Prieta Chapter Sustainable Land Use Committee Co-Chair

  • Collisions with buildings are killing millions of birds nationwide. A dark-sky movement to save them is sweeping the Bay Area.
    The Mercury News
    December 26, 2023

    Featuring Shani Kleinhaus, Environmental Advocate with Santa Clara Valley Audubon Society and member of Sierra Club Loma Prieta's Executive Committee, and Dashiell Leeds, Loma Prieta's Conservation Coordinator.

  • Drastic flood control plan needs more public scrutiny
    The Daily Journal, Letter to the Editor
    December 21, 2023

    OneShoreline is an intergovernmental agency that creates plans for climate adaptation impacts, and has recently come forward with a sea level rise flood protection plan. Regarding that plan, Sierra Club Bay Alive Campaign Vice-Chair and Loma Prieta Chapter Sustainable Land Use Committee Chair Gita Dev wrote a letter to the editor in the San Mateo Daily Journal.

    “[the plan] proposes a 2.65-mile offshore barrier, with tidal gates, encroaching into the Bay, despite a 50-year old state law forbidding such actions to preserve the Bay’s ecology and reverse damage caused by landfill and garbage dumping.”

  • Bio safety advocates concerned over upcoming lab in Redwood City
    RWC Pulse
    August 28, 2023

    In the face of a rapidly expanding life sciences industry in the Bay Area, Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter’s Bay Advocate Program alumni and active Bay Alive volunteers, Nina and Steve Goodale, are on the front lines of Chapter efforts to raise awareness about associated bio safety risks to our communities and Bay ecosystems. Their efforts are creating results; read their quote in this Redwood City Pulse article! More community members are raising their voices and cities are beginning to take action to manage the risks. Learn more about biosafety and what cities can do to protect their communities.
     
  • The End: Supervisors Approve Agreement to Close Lehigh Cement Plant
    County of Santa Clara press release
    August 15, 2023

    Includes quote from Loma Prieta Chapter Director.

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