United States v. Blue Lake Power, LLC

ORDER RE: MOTION TO INTERVENE

Re: Dkt. No.

The Blue Lake Ranchería Tribe (“Tribe”) asks to intervene in the pending *840 civil environmental enforcement action brought by the United States and the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District (“District”) against Defendant Blue Lake Power, LLC. Dkt. No. 17. On September 8, 2016, the Court heard argument on the Tribe’s motion and now grants it in part.

BACKGROUND

This environmental enforcement action concerns a biomass-fired electric generating plant (“Facility”) located in Blue Lake, Humboldt County, California. Dkt. No. 1 ¶¶ 1, 22. The Facility was built in 1984 and began commercial operations in 1987. Id. ¶ 64. Between 1999 and 2008, the Facility was idle for what appears to be mainly economic reasons. See id. ¶¶ 72-74. Defendant Blue Lake Power acquired the Facility in 2008 and undertook substantial physical modifications to restart it. Id. ¶ 77. Following the reconstruction, the Facility resumed operations on April 30, 2010 and remained in operation until May 2015. Id. ¶ 80; Dkt. No. 17 at 3. The enforcement action is centered on the preconstruction work and subsequent operation. The plaintiff government agencies…