Features

Chevron gets go-ahead 

on new oil tanks 

RICHMOND — ChevronTexaco can build two new 30,000-gallon liquefied petroleum storage tanks without the extensive review sought by environmental groups, the City Council agreed. 

However, the council added a condition to a previous permit that requires the company to stop storing gasoline additives on rail cars at the site. 

That is “consistent with what we believe will occur with the new tanks,” company spokesman Dean O’Hair said. 

Environmental groups said they will now consider suing to block the project. 

Surveillance cameras to 

monitor graffiti sites  

SAN JOSE — Police are going high-tech in the fight against graffiti. 

Motion-detecting devices installed at graffiti-plagued sites flash a warning light, then play a tape recording that warns: “Stop. You’re trespassing. Your photo has been taken and will be used to prosecute you. Leave now.” 

The devices then quickly snap three photos. The city began installing the devices a year ago, and moves them according to need. Six are installed and four more are pending. 

Los Angeles and San Francisco also are using the cameras, San Jose police Sgt. Paul Spagnoli said. 

East Bay shooting  

OAKLAND — Two spectators at an Oakland “sideshow” were wounded by gunfire. 

The women, ages 19 and 21, were shot in the legs at about 1:45 p.m. Saturday but their injuries weren’t considered life-threatening. 

Police say they have found nothing to lead them to believe the women were the targets. 

Oakland police and other police departments have been trying to crack down on “sideshows,” in which drivers skid wildly around an area and some spectators let the cars narrowly miss them. 

Senator’s son leads rally 

for organic food  

SANTA ROSA — Robert F. Kennedy Jr. urged consumers Saturday to buy organically grown and raised food to promote clean water and support family farms. 

Kennedy, president of the Waterkeeper Alliance, launched the Pure Farms-Pure Water campaign at the Health & Harmony Festival, along with George Siemon of Organic Valley, a national organic brand owned by a number of organic farmers across the country. 

Kennedy said many small family farms are turning to organic farming to stay alive. 

“The American landscape is now being transformed with a few large multinational corporations that are taking over produce production,” he said. 

Kennedy, an environmental attorney and son of the slain senator, said pesticides and fertilizers used by the corporations are finding their way into the country’s waterways. He hoped the campaign would encourage consumers to spend their money on organic food. 

To carry carry the “USDA Organic” label, food now must meet certain standards set by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. 

The standards were to be implemented over 18 months beginning in February, 2001. They ban pesticides, genetic engineering, growth hormones and irradiation of organic foods, and require dairy cattle to have access to pasture. They replace a hodgepodge of state rules and private certification standards.