Sludge Watch ==> Union Opposed to Pricey Philadelphia Sludge Dryer Plan

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

This is nuts. The City will have to pay the fuel costs for sludge drying 
(which are escalating) while Synagro profits from the venture.

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



Council considers sludge today
Water Dept. supports, union opposes privatizing solid-waste recycling

By MARK McDONALD
mcdonam at phillynews.com 215-854-2646

Drive across the Platt Bridge and you can smell the problem issuing from the 
tons and tons of composting sewage sludge at the city's Biosolids Recycling 
Center.

To solve its odor problem and to save money, arguably millions of dollars 
over a 20-year time frame, the Street administration is proposing the 
biggest privatization of a city function in a decade.

The city wants to sign a long-term contract with Synagro, a Houston company, 
and its local partners to build and operate a $66 million plant on the 
Penrose Avenue site near the airport.

The new plant would dry out the smelly sludge from the city's three sewage 
treatment plants and turn it into what's known as Class A biosolids: pellets 
of varying sizes that could be sold as fertilizer or landfill. Under the 
proposed contract, the company, not the city, would be on the hook for 
getting rid of the biosolids; the city would, however, pay the energy costs 
to run the plant.

Water Commissioner Bernard Brunwasser says the city hired a consultant who 
helped his staff develop the plan and evaluate the many technologies and 
companies in the biosolids business.

For the 93 city employees who are working at the Penrose facility, 
Brunwasser said they can transfer to other jobs in the department or go to 
work for Synagro or elsewhere. "And if after a year, they don't like working 
outside city government, they can come back to work here at the same level," 
he said.

But AFSCME District Council 33, which represents the city employees, has 
engaged in a vigorous lobbying campaign against the outsourcing plan. The 
Street administration had hoped to have Synagro in place by July 1, but 
instead the union has kept the package of bills bottled up in City Council.

Today, the bills get their first hearing in the finance committee chaired by 
Council Majority Leader Jannie Blackwell, who says she's open to new 
technologies for handling sludge but is concerned about the impact on city 
employees.

A union source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the union will ask 
Council to delay a decision for up to two years during which time it 
proposes to work out a better deal with other companies using different 
technologies.

But the city and union agree on one thing - some time next year the stinky 
composting process will end and the 33 employees doing that work will 
transfer to other city jobs. The roughly 60,000 tons of sludge that has been 
composted annually will get treated and landfilled, Brunwasser said.

Using the Synagro process, Brunwasser said the city's flow of 200,000 tons 
of biosolids will shrink to just 60,000 tons, which in turn will reduce 
truck traffic in and out of the biosolids center by 70 percent.

He said the city would garner about $102 million in a net present value 
savings over a 23-year time frame (including a three-year startup) compared 
to its current setup, which includes the assumed end of composting.

But an analysis by City Controller Alan Butkovitz's staff suggests the water 
department has inflated its savings substantially. It estimated about $43 
million in savings.

City Council President Anna Verna, in whose district the biosolids center is 
located, did not return a Daily News call seeking comment.


http://www.philly.com/mld/dailynews/16128379.htm