Asbestos danger will limit access to Bureau of Land Management
area until October
Hollister – Concerned about off-road vehicle enthusiasts, dirt bike riders and others being exposed to potentially hazardous asbestos, the Bureau of Land Management will close nearly half of the Clear Creek Management Area in southern San Benito County next month.
The closure of 30,000 asbestos-laden acres at the Clear Creek is prompted each year by the onset of dry weather and the dust that results, according to George Hill, assistant field manager for the Hollister BLM Field Office. Much of the earth in the 75,000-acre area is laced with naturally occurring asbestos.
“During summer we don’t get any moisture,” he said. “Driving on the roads stirs up dust that contains asbestos.”
Off-roaders, campers and hunters of wild pigs recreate at Clear Creek, which is located about an hour south of Hollister. The closed areas will be identified with large signs and information available at a kiosk in Clear Creek, Hill said. There will be some access routes for hunters, he said. The restrictions will be in effect from June 1 to October 15.
Asbestos – a group of fibrous minerals that occur naturally in soil and rock in some areas – is known to cause cancer. Most people who get cancer from asbestos, however, were regularly exposed to high levels of the substance in the workplace, according to the BLM. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is in the midst of a study on the effect of asbestos exposure on people who use Clear Creek.
In addition to asbestos and good off-roading trails, Clear Creek is known for the endangered San Benito evening primrose – a rare flower that has spurred more than a year of litigation between environmentalists and the BLM.
In November, 2004, the California Native Plant Society and the Center for Biological Diversity filed suit against BLM, claiming that the agency’s management plan for Clear Creek – which cut the 400 miles of off-road trails by nearly half – did not go far enough to protect the primrose. The flower was declared endangered in 1985.
Several hearings last year produced no conclusion to the suit, according to Brian Litmans, a Maryland attorney representing the environmental groups. The BLM is slated to file a report with the Federal Court in San Jose about how the primrose is being protected at the end of June, Litmans said. The suit will proceed based on the report.
