Which Path to Take: Research Facilities or Nature? Photo by Ken Cheetham

March 21, 2010 — Here is the best news: Still, it has not happened — Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory's (LBNL) 2006 Long Range Development Plan to build up to one million gross sq. ft. of research facilities (500 additional parking spaces) on the hillsides and upper watershed of Strawberry Canyon. Thanks to voices raised, many generous contributions, the legal work of two great environmental attorneys, and the deliberate review of a Superior Court Judge and a U.S. District Court Judge, the LBNL Plan has been temporarily derailed. There are real, environmentally viable, alternative sites.

Save Strawberry Canyon (SSC) argues that this Plan should not go forward given the hazards of unstable soils (note: caldera, volcanic cavity), strong earthquakes, wild fires, inaccessible roads, climate change effects and the taking of irreplaceable natural habitat, watershed resources, and a valuable urban wilderness corridor. The lovely scenic backdrop to the cities and the Bay would be compromised forever.

Although the California Court of Appeal did rule on March 12th in favor of the Plan's Environmental Impact Report (EIR), our efforts are not daunted. The suit was filed in 2007, when the public did not understand that federal review was an obligation, nor was Save Strawberry Canyon begun at that time. Currently, four specific research facilities remain on the drawing board or in limbo:

1. Computational Research and Theory Facility (CRT), 126,000 gsf planned for the bluff above Cyclotron Road on the North Fork of Strawberry Creek — a recent court decision, Save Strawberry Canyon vs. Department of Energy (DOE), determined that CRT is a federal project, mandating federal environmental review (NEPA). In December LBNL announced federal review will begin.

2. Helios Energy Research Facility, first planned to be placed in the Canyon — —now split in two, Helios West in Downtown Berkeley and Helios East in LBNL's Blackberry Canyon hill site. SSC filed suit on the original Helios project in 2008 and the Canyon project site was withdrawn.

3. General Purpose Laboratory, 43,000 gsf planned for an area within the Strawberry Creek watershed — the CEQA environmental review is closed, but the NEPA review is still forthcoming.

4. BELLA (Berkeley Lab Laser Accelerator), an "experimental facility" on unstable soils, 448 ft. from Campus Drive and directly above Northside, in Blackberry Canyon — generating 10 billion electron volts. SSC filed suit in federal court for inadequate environmental (NEPA) review on February 25th.

On our website you can read more about our legal actions, about threats to Strawberry Canyon, and about an alternative site for the construction of these projects.

Costs for ongoing and anticipated litigation are huge. You are encouraged to join SSC (beginning at $10) and/or contribute (fully tax-deductible) to help meet the financial burdens. This is a critical ongoing environmental effort — help make a difference now! Find out more about us here.