Sludge Watch ==> Emissions from sludge compost a problem - energy projects preferred

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:




Refinery may slash sludge emissions
BY GRETCHEN WENNER, Californian staff writer
e-mail: gwenner at bakersfield.com | Thursday, Nov 2 2006 9:50 PM
Last Updated: Thursday, Nov 2 2006 9:54 PM

Cattlemen and composters talking like enviros?

Sewage sludge has apparently grown up enough to spark strange bedfellows, a 
hearing Thursday morning showed.

Pat McCarthy of San Joaquin Composting -- who said his family's compost 
operation outside Lost Hills has been called the largest in the country -- 
described a planned $200 million renewable-energy project that would zap 
emissions to miraculously low levels.

Liberty V (that's a Roman "five") is in the early permitting stage, McCarthy 
said.

The refinery could turn 786,000 wet tons of sludge a year into 150 megawatts 
of electricity, reducing certain air-harming emissions from 1,218 tons 
annually to fewer than 30, he said.

Feedlot operator Daniel Rudnick, meanwhile, sang praises of the federal 
National Renewable Energy Laboratory while condemning current 
sludge-handling methods as antique practice.

"It's 2006. Why is it that we are composting? Why is it that we are land 
applying?" Rudnick said.

State Sen. Dean Florez, the Shafter Democrat running the hearing, nodded. He 
told both men he'd like to work with them to help ease legislative obstacles 
hindering their projects.

Florez chairs the Senate select committee on air quality. He scheduled the 
hearing to discuss proposed air district rules to cut emissions from sludge 
operations in the valley.

Representatives from state and regional air and water agencies answered 
questions about proposed Rule 4565, which aims to slash some 80 percent of 
certain emissions from sludge composting and land application operations in 
the valley.

Soil scientist Paul Giboney weighed in on behalf of the Kern Food Growers 
Against Sewage Sludge.

The discussion included a nod south, where the city of Los Angeles and other 
Southern California sewage-industry interests are flexing legal muscles in 
an effort to topple Kern's voter-approved ban on sludge use as fertilizer in 
unincorporated areas.

Elevator talk before the hearing predicted the federal judge handling the 
case may grant the Southland interests an injunction at the next courtroom 
showdown Nov. 13, but Kern still had a good chance to prevail in the long 
run.

An injunction would allow cities and counties beyond the Grapevine to 
continue trucking treated municipal sewage sludge here until a ruling on 
Kern's ban is made.

http://www.bakersfield.com/619/story/82125.html


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