Sludge Watch ==> Lets create subterranean hydrolic fractures with sludge near LA seismic fault

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Sludgewatch Quality Control agents have informed me that the link in the
"Whats Brown and One Mile Down ? "  post of May 31, 2006 doesn't work.

That is post  about the proposed use of sewage sludge to generate methane 
using a subterranean sandstone one mile down near the Palo Verde seismic 
fault a little off the coast of Long Beach near Los Angeles.  The plan ... 
according to the attached power point by EPA staffer George Robin says that 
they would pump the sludge slurry down about 5,000 feet or more using enough 
pressure to fraction the rock. The methane from the decomposing swelling 
wastes may provide some energy.


Bio-Slurry-Fractionation

Thats a kind of a cute name for it.  By the way, there was a cute little 
earthquake 2 miles east of Long Beach in 2004:  
http://www.lbreport.com/news/aug04/elbquake.htm



Los Angeles and EPA say that if it seems to be causing earthquakes they'll 
stop sending the sludge down there.   Feel good about this now?  Let the EPA 
know.

.........................................................

http://www.dailybreeze.com/news/articles/2990671.html


Sludge byproduct may be shelved at Terminal Island
>From staff reports

A spot about a mile beneath Terminal Island could become the repository of 
hundreds of tons per day of sludge byproduct from the region's sewage 
treatment plants, under a city of Los Angeles plan undergoing review by the 
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The plan, which first surfaced five years ago, is to inject up to 400 tons 
per day of sewage sludge, or "biosolids" into a sandy, porous area down in 
the earth. The idea is to give sewage treatment plants, like those run by 
the city's Bureau of Sanitation, an alternative to shipping the material for 
use as soil amendment at farms in Kern and Kings counties.



The EPA on Tuesday announced that public comments on the project's permit 
will be accepted until July 19. The idea is to drill three wells -- one for 
injecting the sludge and two to monitor the system. Officials say the 
project will not interfere with drinking water supplies as the sewage sludge 
will be pumped 2,500 feet below the closest aquifer.

To view the city's permit application, go to

www.epa.gov region09/water/groundwater/uic permits.html

and scroll down to UIC Class V Experimental Permit -- City of Los Angeles.


...................................................................

And here is another take on the situation....


http://bouphonia.blogspot.com/

Given the ongoing attempt to foment hysteria over the stringently regulated 
use of cattle manure in organic farming, it’s instructive to consider this 
story:
Los Angeles officials said Wednesday they are considering a lawsuit to 
challenge Kern voters' decision to keep L.A. from trucking its sewage sludge 
to the other county.

The Kern ban came even as L.A. officials launched an experimental project to 
inject sludge beneath the ground in San Pedro.

Kern voters easily passed Measure E late Tuesday to prohibit the use of 
highly treated human waste, or biosolids, as fertilizer in unincorporated 
areas of their county.
Normally, 50 trucks travel from Los Angeles to Kern County every day, each 
carrying 22 tons of sludge contaminated by pharmaceuticals (among other 
things).

But never mind about that. The plan to inject sludge “beneath the ground” is 
far more interesting. The goal is to pump 400 tons of biosolids per day into 
the sandstone beneath Terminal Island, a doomed artificial island built 
around a mudflat at the former mouth of the Los Angeles River.
Under the plan, three wells would be drilled at the Terminal Island 
Treatment Plant. One well would be used to inject the slurry of sterilized 
waste into the spongelike sandstone where oil has been extracted. Two other 
wells would be used to monitor the spread of the biosolids in the rock.

"Over time, the expectation is that the material should break down into its 
constituent products: methane and carbon dioxide," said David Albright, 
manager of the EPA's groundwater office for the southwest region.

The slurry will be injected about one-half mile below the lowest groundwater 
level, and EPA officials said the project should have no impact on drinking 
water.
There's talk of sequestering the carbon dioxide, and storing the methane. As 
long as nothing goes wrong, it seems that this could indeed be preferable to 
hauling tons of sludge to Kern County and spreading it on fields, not least 
because the sludge currently shipped to Kern County comes from the treatment 
plant on Terminal Island. The question, of course, is whether it's 
reasonable to assume that nothing will go wrong.

Historical note: As a result of oil drilling, part of Terminal Island had 
subsided to 29 feet below sea level by the 1950s; the problem was “solved” 
by injecting water into the former wells. According to the Sierra Club (see 
previous link), that land is now “literally supported by constant, 
pressurized water injection.”

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