Sludge Watch ==> 70, 000 tons of ash in Wasco - is it hazardous - does it work?

[maureen.reilly at sympatico.ca]

Sludgewatch Admin

There is more concern about the characterization of the high pH caustic 
wastes dumped on farmfields in Wasco California by USA Transport...a sludge 
transport/spreading company out of Adelanto.

There are a few questions aside from whether its a hazmat waste.  I heard 
from Honeybucket Farms, also called Tule Ranch, that this caustic waste 
material was not used in their sludge process, because it was too variable 
to get a consistent pathogen kill.  Because its a waste and not a processed 
product to meet a consistant formula, the material may not be adequate to 
perform the required disinfection function in the sludge processing to Class 
A.


Wonder what Honeybucket is actually using?  Staff at Tule Ranch couldn't 
remember what lime material they use...even though they would need several 
tankers of it every week.  Nobody seems to do much checking on sludge 
processing, even in a sludge hotbed like Kern County.

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

Ash not hazardous, company contends
BY SARAH RUBY, Californian staff writer
e-mail: sruby at bakersfield.com | Friday, May 26 2006 9:45 PM
Last Updated: Friday, May 26 2006 9:57 PM

More than 70,000 tons of hazardous waste near Wasco could be downgraded to a 
less toxic status if the piles' owner gets its way.

State officials say they're still reviewing new tests of the ash, an 
industrial waste hauled from the Los Angeles area to a sludge farm outside 
Wasco. The caustic mixture, which is used to kill pathogens in sludge before 
spreading it on cropland, was labeled hazardous waste in January.

The ash came from BP West Coast Products LLC's refinery south of Los 
Angeles. It was hauled to the sludge farm near Wasco owned by the city of 
Oxnard.

Locals worry the combined clout of BP and Oxnard will influence the state's 
hazardous waste ruling.

"I think they have monumental powers as far as the economics," said Larry 
Pearson, a Wasco city councilman. "The fight isn't out of Wasco by any means 
(but) we're definitely worried about it."

Scientists at the state Department of Toxic Substances Control are still 
reviewing the results of several rounds of testing, said Ron Baker, a 
spokesman for the agency. There's no danger of their decision being 
influenced by a powerful corporation, he said.

"Clearly, we base all our decisions on science," Baker said. "We will make a 
decision how best to manage that material based on the results of the test."

BP already has proof the ash isn't hazardous waste, said Phil Cochrane, a 
spokesman for the company. It's shared the results with state officials, who 
are in informal agreement, Cochrane said.

That's not true, Baker said. The piles are considered hazardous waste until 
the test results are fully analyzed, he said.

In the meantime, the city of Oxnard has been cleaning up its sludge farm. So 
far, it's sent 35,000 tons of ash to the Clean Harbors hazardous waste 
facility outside Buttonwillow, said county planning director Ted James.

In all, the piles could cost $1.35 million to remove, according to a staff 
report to the Oxnard City Council. If the piles were no longer deemed 
hazardous waste, Oxnard's disposal costs would fall and BP could keep a 
convenient means of getting rid of a waste.

The piles are a mix of caustic compounds that can irritate eyes, nose and 
throat, and, at worst, cause lungs to fill with fluid, according to safety 
paperwork.

The piles' high pH kills bacteria and viruses in sewage sludge before it's 
spread as fertilizer, but it also led to January's hazardous waste 
designation.

"We've been (using the material) every year for the last 10 years," said 
Robert Montgomery, environmental safety manager with the city of Oxnard. 
"It's not a hazardous waste."

Oxnard's sludge farm had problems before it was found to be using hazardous 
waste. U.S.A. Transport Inc., the San Bernardino company with a contract to 
spread sludge for the city of Oxnard, stockpiled more than four times as 
much caustic ash as its permit allowed. County officials tried to get the 
company to remove the piles, an effort that gained urgency once the state 
declared them hazardous waste.

In April, the county board of supervisors fined Oxnard and U.S.A. Transport 
$25,000 each. The board also threatened to charge Oxnard more than $250,000 
if the piles aren't gone by June 27, and upheld a decision by staff to 
revoke U.S.A. Transport's sludge-spreading permit.

Oxnard's is the only sludge farm in the U.S. EPA's western region to use 
this caustic powder to kill pathogens and achieve "exceptional quality" 
standards, said Lauren Fondahl, biosolids coordinator for the EPA's regional 
office in San Francisco. The only outfit to use a similar method is Honey 
Bucket Farms, one of two imported sludge farms still operating in Kern.

The fine points of sludge handling could become irrelevant June 6, when Kern 
voters will decide whether to pass a proposed sludge ban known as Measure E. 
Southern California sanitation agencies trucked some 471,000 wet tons of 
sewage sludge to Kern for use as fertilizer in 2005.

Sewage sludge is what's left after sanitation districts filter sewer water 
so it's clean enough to pour in the ocean. Sludge is treated to kill 
pathogens and bacteria, but it's known to contain heavy metals, industrial 
chemicals, pharmaceuticals, consumer products and other compounds rinsed 
down the drain.

• A San Bernardino trucking company stockpiled a four-year supply of caustic 
ash to use at the city of Oxnard’s sludge farm near Wasco; the piles were 
there since at least May 2005.

• The state declared the piles hazardous waste in late January; the county 
revokes the farm’s permit and hands out hefty fines to hasten cleanup.

• Oxnard and the source of the ash, BP West Coast Products LLC, say they’ve 
got tests to prove it’s not hazardous waste; state officials say they’re 
still reviewing the data.