Sludge Watch ==> Letters against Nursery Products in Calif - Desert Dispatch

[Maureen Reilly]

http://www.desertdispatch.com/2006/114977652386307.html

Thursday, June 8, 2006


   Letters to the Editor

This is an open letter to the people of The Mojave Valley Area about the 
proposed site near Hinkley for the Nursery Product composting facility. 
The operation will endanger the health, air and water quality of all the 
citizens east of the site.

When the prevailing wind blows faster than 25 miles an hour the 
particulate matter from the site will affect the health and air quality 
of not only the Hinkley and Harper Valley area but it will send it over 
Barstow. The fine dust will contain pathogens related to fecal matter 
and odors that will ruin our quality of life and lower property values.

The site will also will be out of compliance with the Lahontan water 
quality rules, as the heavy metals in the sewage sludge will leach in to 
the ground water aquifer of the Mojave River that supplies every ones 
drinking water.

I am very concerned that the prevailing wind and water quality issues 
were disregarded in this area. Not only the health and safety of the 
citizens is in danger so are the property values.

This project must be stopped!

Robert F. Hilburn Barstow


http://www.desertdispatch.com/2006/115012007467600.html

Monday, June 12, 2006


   Letters to the Editor

I have been studying the two proposed sites for Nursery Products sewage 
composting sites. In a small way I helped Newberry Springs fight having 
the site in their neighborhood. Now Nursery Products wants to put a site 
near Hinkley and Kramer Junction. This location is potentially even more 
damaging to Hinkley and Barstow.

First there is a problem with dust. I once attended a seminar with a 
number of speakers with interests in the deserts of the southwest. One 
of the speakers started their presentation with a satellite picture of 
three massive plumes of dust. The plumes were so large that they ranged 
across half of Arizona and most of New Mexico. What was shocking was 
what caused these huge plumes; three tractors tilling a field.

In the process that Nursery Products uses to compost the sewage sludge 
they pile the material in long piles called windrows. Every so often the 
company turns over these windrows with heavy equipment kicking up a lot 
of dust. This site is west of Hinkley and Barstow so guess where this 
sewage dust will end up?

I have talked to a number of people and they remember rain storms in the 
past that left white residue on cars and on the ground. At the time of 
the storms I did some research and found out that the white stuff was 
alkali dust from Owens Valley. The wind was just right to feed storm 
clouds with white dust and dump it on us. With the Nursery Products site 
we probably won't even need a storm just one of our patented windy days. 
Are you ready to clean sewage dust off your car?

Another concern with the proposed site is that of water. When outsiders 
come to the desert they see dry lake beds and think that they are really 
dry. In all reality the water is found quite close to the surface of the 
lake bed. The proposed Hinkley site was at one time the site of the end 
of the Mojave River and there is still water there. We may not actively 
be pumping water out of the area but the water that is there is 
connected to all the other water in the area. For example when Los 
Angeles started taking the water out of the Owens Valley in the early 
part of last century water levels in Newberry Spring started to fall. 
There is no strong evidence of the connection but they happened at the 
same time.

When PG&E polluted Hinkley with chromium 6 the plume traveled east via 
underground water. Now Nursery Products want to put one of the largest 
collection of sewage piles in the world on top of the same stream of 
water. Hinkley should be concerned. The potential for contamination is 
great. Barstow is not safe either, there is a good chance the 
contamination could be knocking on our door.

I had the chance to read the complaints when Nursery Products was housed 
in Adelanto. Chief among them was the noxious odors that emanated from 
the plant. These smells were so bad that they caused nausea, nose bleeds 
and many other respiratory ailments. The fumes also caused the 
insulation on a nearby Los Angles Department of Power and Water station 
wires to erode. A lawsuit between LADWP and Nursery Products was the 
result. The other day I was visiting a friend on Buena Vista street. I 
noticed a bad odor and asked him what it was and he said it was one of 
the dairy facilities in Hinkley. If the dairy can be smelled on Buena 
Vista, how will it smell when thousands of tons of sewage sludge is down 
the road?

It is tempting to say that the Nursery Products Site is Hinkley's 
problem and that it is too far away to worry Barstow. But if you look at 
the history of the situation you find that letting Nursery Products come 
into the area with their noxious process will not only be trouble for 
Hinkley and Barstow but also every resident of the High Desert.

Steve Smith

Barstow
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://list.web.net/archives/sludgewatch-l/attachments/20060613/ffd36baa/attachment.htm