Sludge Watch ==> Hinkley Sludge Project - Could get go ahead despite impacts?

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Not only do Hinkley residents not want this sludge 'compost' site, the 
surrounding high desert communities don't want the 'finished' sludge 
material either.


San Bernardino County doesn't produce much sludge- so most of the sludge 
would come from other parts of the state of California...likely the Los 
Angeles area and Orange County sludges that are being booted out of Kern 
County.

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Project has an X factor
Chuck Mueller, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:11/04/2006 12:00:00 AM PST

HINKLEY - A controversial waste-composting project could get the nod from 
San Bernardino County planning commissioners even though it might cause a 
significant impact on air quality.
Despite strong opposition from area residents, the project proposed at a 
160-acre site 10 miles west of could be approved by commissioners if they 
view it as a vital service to the region.

Apple Valley-based Nursery Products LLC, a composting firm, seeks a 
conditional-use permit to process up to 400,000 tons of green material and 
biosolids annually at the site.

The county Land Use Services Department has extended the public-comment 
period on the environmental report until Nov. 13, Supervising Advanced 
Planner Carrie Hyke said. The previous deadline was Thursday.

said commissioners could approve the permit on grounds the composting 
project has overriding value to the community, citing the need to find a 
suitable site for a facility serving the composting needs of the county.

At two recent public meetings, angry residents and landowners objected to 
the project, saying it would foul the air and water and bring flies.

They plan to carry their protests to the county Planning Commission on Nov. 
30 in San Bernardino.

Their key argument comes from a statement in a draft environmental impact 
report for the composting facility that says the proposed project "could 
result in significant unavoidable impacts to air quality even with the 
implementation of specific mitigation measures."

The report, prepared by San Diego-based URS, an environmental consulting 
firm, said emissions of volatile organic compounds from project operations 
would exceed air-quality standards set by the regional air-quality 
management district.

Chris Seney, director of operations for Nursery Products, said the emissions 
are generated when green wastes, which include leaves, woods or biosolids, 
are composted.

"The emissions result from the natural breakdown of green wastes and 
biosolids," he said.

Biosolids are treated sewage sludge. When processed in sewage-treatment 
facilities, biosolids can be recycled and used as fertilizer, the U.S. 
Environmental Protection Agency reported.

Hinkley-area residents like Lucille Riddle are afraid the area's frequent 
winds would blow across piles of compost and carry pollutants to the town 
west of Barstow.

"That's not healthy and isn't something we want," she said.

But Alan Rubin, chief author of the EPA's regulation-setting standards on 
using and composting biosolids, said no illnesses result from composting the 
materials.

"Composting kills off harmful microbes in biosolids," he said.

The project would receive materials for composting from both San Bernardino 
and Riverside counties.

Meanwhile, Hyke noted that the environmental report said other public 
concerns, such as potential impacts on water, traffic and biological 
resources, could be mitigated.

At present, biosolids and green wastes are hauled by truck to a composting 
facility in Kern County, Seney said.

"If (the Hinkley) facility were opened, it would reduce truck travel on 
state Highway 58 and therefore reduce emissions of volatile organic 
compounds," he said. "Why haul biosolids and green wastes long distances 
when they can be processed locally and the finished product is used on local 
farms?"

Nursery Products previously operated a composting facility in Adelanto, but 
a court ordered it closed in the wake of complaints from various groups. 
Later, angry residents of Newberry Springs, east of Barstow, blocked the 
firm's attempt to relocate there.

Whatever decision planning commissioners reach on the Hinkley-area site 
could be appealed to the county Board of Supervisors.






http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_4602445