Sludge Watch ==> California -proposed open air compost facility rejected

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin:

This is not a proposed sludge composting site...but it seems that in 
California the state of the art is
a fully enclosed compost facility....not an open air site that cannot 
contain greenhouse gases, odor, flies, and dust.

This has got to be a warning to Jeff Meberg of Nursery Products that he 
should consider fully enclosed facilities for composting sewage sludge, not 
the open air facility he proposes just west of Hinkley California.

Residents of Hinkley and Barstow have met several times in organized protest 
over the proposed Nursery Products sludge compost site.



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http://insidebayarea.com/dailyreview/localnews/ci_3997976

County waste board puts final nail in Sunol compost proposal
By Brian Foley, STAFF WRITER

SAN LEANDRO — The Alameda County Waste Management Authority board put the 
proposed compost facility for Sunol on hold Wednesday, effectively killing 
the tumultuous project.

It was a big victory for Sunol residents, who for years resisted efforts by 
the waste authority to place an open-air facility on Andrade Road off 
Interstate 680 that would truck in as much as 600 tons of food and yard 
waste a day.

The unanimous vote by the 17-member board largely was in reaction to a 4-0 
vote by the county Board of Supervisors two weeks ago that the blueprint did 
not comply with the county's general plan.

Many authority board members expressed frustration about what some viewed as 
an unfair pre-emptive action by the Board of Supervisors — led by Supervisor 
Scott Haggerty, who represents a portion of Sunol.

"No one wants to go through this only to get it killed by the Board of 
Supervisors," said Councilwoman Claudia McCormick of Dublin, who supported 
the project. "I congratulate the people of Sunol. You pushed the right 
buttons, and you got your way. We've been had. All this while, it was a 
fantasy."

Supervisor Keith Carson, who sits on the authority board, was on the 
receiving end of some criticism.

"The (supervisors have) to take some leadership if (they) are going to say 
don't bother," said Nancy McEnroe, vice mayor of Piedmont.

Wednesday's vote was the culmination of several public meetings — some of 
which turned into yelling matches — and hundreds of thousands of dollars 
spent on contentious environmental impact reports.

Some board members who stood against the Sunol project

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reiterated their belief that the project would draw lawsuits because the 
location is within one mile of about 100 residents.

"We'd be headed for court battles that would last four, eight, 10 years," 
said Fremont Mayor Bob Wasserman. "What will that accomplish?"

The board also voted to hold a closed-door session with lawyers to review 
how to wiggle out of obligations with MRI, the private company that was to 
oversee operations at Sunol. Mayor Shelia Young of San Leandro said MRI no 
doubt invested money in the plan with the assumption that the Sunol site 
would be approved. "Who's going to pay MRI who's spent all of this money?" 
she said.

Pleasanton Mayor Jennifer Hosterman, who opposed the Sunol site, indicated 
her desire to build several smaller compost facilities throughout the 
county. She said Pleasanton could house one such facility.

"If it's one facility of this magnitude, it will have an impact whether it's 
truck traffic or pollutants," she said. "Doesn't it make sense ... to have a 
handful of facilities scattered through the county to reduce impact?"

Staff writer Brian Foley can be reached at (925) 416-4818 and 
bfoley at angnewspapers.com