Sludge Watch ==> San Bernardino County Calif - sludge study endorses sludge plant plans? really?

[Maureen Reilly]

To read the EIR go to:
http://www.co.san-bernardino.ca.us/landuseservices/Public%20Notices/EIRs/Nursery%20Products/Draft%20EIR%20w-o%20Appendices.pdf
It is 150 pages long.


http://www.sbsun.com/news/ci_4402288

Report endorses sludge plant's plans

Chuck Mueller, Staff Writer




HINKLEY - A waste-composting facility proposed west of here will be an 
environmentally safe operation, project officials say, but they're aware it 
is likely to spark opposition from desert residents as plans move ahead.
A draft environmental impact report, released Tuesday, indicates that 
potential for odor, flies and dust at the 160-acre site can be minimized 
through special measures planned by Apple Valley-based Nursery Products LLC, 
a composting firm.

Plans call for processing up to 400,000 tons of green material and biosolids 
annually, hauled in by truck. Agricultural-grade compost would be produced, 
primarily for use on High Desert farms and lawns.

Biosolids are treated sewage sludge. When processed in sewage-treatment 
facilities, biosolids can be recycled and used as fertilizer, according to 
the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
"Composting kills off harmful microbes in biosolids, and no illnesses result 
from composted biosolids," said Alan Rubin, chief author of the EPA's 
regulation-setting standards on using and composting the materials.
"Bacteria in biosolids create a bio-chemical reaction that raises the 
temperature of the material ... so it can be used for potting soil or 
applied on lawns or gardens. It's even used at the White House."
In the wake of strong opposition from Adelanto homeowners, Nursery Products 
shut down the firm's composting operation there two years ago and made plans 
to relocate the business to Newberry Springs.
But residents of the farming and retirement community east of Barstow also 
made it clear they did not want the composting company as a neighbor, 
claiming the operation would contaminate groundwater and generate odor, 
flies and truck traffic.
Scanning the empty desert landscape where the composting facility is 
currently planned, Nursery Products President Jeff Meberg said, "We're not 
in anybody's backyard out here. The nearest and only house is three miles 
away. And the nearest community is 10 miles away."

Still, the proposal has already drawn fire from some residents of Hinkley, 
still skittish over a groundwater contamination incident that attracted 
nationwide attention when Hollywood brought in Julia Roberts to play the 
role of environmental sleuth Erin Brockovich.
"The economic impact of this project would be severe, just as new homes are 
being built following the (groundwater) disaster," Hinkley resident Jo Ann 
Williams said at a public meeting in May. "This project will smell up our 
area and flood it with flies."

Not so, according to the new environmental impact report prepared by San 
Diego-based URS, an independent consulting firm.
Before Nursery Products begins operations, it must develop and put into use 
a plan to minimize odor. As feedstock arrives at the facility, it would be 
treated with lime or a neutralizing agent to control odor.

"And we won't accept curbside lawn trimmings that attract flies,' Meberg 
said. "Our system will operate without attracting them."
Responding to previous complaints that biosolids would be accepted from 
outside the Inland Empire, Meberg said, "They will come only from San 
Bernardino and Riverside counties, not Los Angeles County."

Hinkley residents will have a chance to comment on the proposal at a public 
meeting set for 6:30 p.m. Oct. 11 at Hinkley Elementary School.
The San Bernardino County Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing 
in late November or early December on Nursery Products' request for a 
conditional-use permit to open and operate the composting facility.