Sludge Watch ==> Residents, activists appeal sludge plant

[Maureen Reilly]

http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/stories/PE_News_Local_R_sludge09.99e11a.html


Residents, activists appeal sludge plant

ENVIRONMENT: An official disagrees with claims over the proposed Mojave
Desert treatment facility.

10:00 PM PST on Friday, December 8, 2006

By JENNIFER BOWLES
The Press-Enterprise

The residents of a remote Mojave Desert town whose battle with
groundwater pollution was made famous in the film "Erin Brockovich" are
tackling what they say is a new environmental threat.

Hinkley, about 15 miles west of Barstow, is the site of a proposed
open-air sewage sludge treatment facility. Residents and activists filed
an appeal Friday to the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors
seeking to overturn the county Planning Commission's approval of the
project Nov. 30.

They allege it would increase traffic, air pollution, noxious odors and
greenhouses gases that contribute to global warming. It is also being
built on land harboring desert tortoises, a federally protected species,
they said.

The appeal will be heard before the supervisors at their Dec. 19
meeting, said Julie Rynerson, the county's deputy director of current
planning.

She said the Planning Commission approved the project only after
extensive environmental review. She said she disagrees with the
allegations of those who filed the appeal.

According to documents, the 160-acre facility proposed by Nursery
Products would collect up to 2,000 tons per day of biosolids from sewage
treatment plants and green materials from Riverside and San Bernardino
counties. Over a year, the facility would process 400,000 tons of waste
to make compost for use on agricultural fields.

The project, eight miles west of Hinkley, is upwind from homes and an
elementary school, said activists who are worried about air pollution
generated by the facility.

"The desert has notoriously been a dumping ground for the more urban
areas," said Norman Diaz, a commercial location scout whose two children
attend Hinkley Elementary School.

Brian Lochrie, a Nursery Products spokesman, said the project will
reduce traffic-generated air pollution because biosolids are usually
trucked farther to Arizona and Kern County.

Kassie Siegel, an attorney with the Center for Biological Diversity,
said the facility should be enclosed to prevent methane from escaping.
Methane is a greenhouse gas.

Lochrie said enclosing the facility would cost almost $100 million
rather than the $1 million price tag for the proposed structure.

The facility, he conceded, would emit large amounts of volatile organic
compounds. Known as VOCs, the compounds are a precursor to ozone, which
is a main ingredient of smog.

Lochrie said if the waste is otherwise put in a landfill in a more
populated region in Southern California, the compounds would be released
into the atmosphere and blow into the desert anyway.

The Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District does not regulate VOCs
from composting facilities because it is the region's first such
operation, said Violette Roberts, a district spokeswoman.

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Desert Dispatch - Barstow Calif.

Saturday, December 9, 2006
Groups take Nursery Products fight to Board of Supervisors
By AARON AUPPERLEE / Staff Writer
BARSTOW - Groups opposed to the proposed Nursery Products site for 
composting bio-solids and green materials on a portion of 160 acres near 
Hinkley filed an appeal Thursday to overturn a decision made by the San 
Bernardino County Planning Commission last week.
The Center for Biological Diversity, Helphinkley.org, Desert Citizens 
Against Pollution, and the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment seek 
to overturn the Planning Commission's approval of a conditional-use permit 
for the composting site by bringing the issue to the San Bernardino County 
Board of Supervisors. The board will hear the appeal on Dec. 19.
Kassie R. Siegel, the climate, air, and energy program director at the 
Center of Biological Diversity, said the Planning Commission's decision 
would have become final if the group had not filed the appeal.
"We believe the decision of the Planning Commission was unlawful," she said.
According to Siegel, the environmental impact report prepared by the county 
concerning the site did not adequately address the environmental concerns of 
area residents. She also said that the project is in violation of county 
code and thought the project is being rushed.
"I have never seen a project move this quickly," she said.
Siegel hopes the Board of Supervisors will come to a different conclusion 
than the Planning Commission.
"You always like to hope your elected officials follow the law," she said.
Brian Lochrie, vice president of Faubel Public Affairs, which handles the 
Nursery Products project, hopes the Board of Supervisors will reach the same 
decision as the Planning Commission.
"We pleased that the Planning Commission decided 4-0 to make their decision 
based on the science and not hysteria," he said. "We're confident the Board 
of Supervisors will do the same."
In the meantime, Norman Diaz, of Helphinkley.org, said the Hinkley community 
has been raising money to continue to fight the process. Hinkley residents 
will host a garage sale today at the Hinkley Store on Hinkley Boulevard to 
raise money to off-set the cost of the appeal, to provide transportation to 
the Dec. 19 meeting and for possible future legal battles.
"At some point we'll have to think about the long term, but right now we are 
focusing on bringing this issue to the board," he said.
If the board denies the appeal, Siegel said, the groups opposing Nursery 
Products could take the matter to court.


She said the district has a so-called nuisance rule that would allow
residents the chance to voice complaints if there are problems once the
facility is built.

http://www.desertdispatch.com/2006/116568076030490.html
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