Sludge Watch ==> LA v Kern - Judge gets it terribly wrong

[Maureen Reilly]

The Bakersfield Californian

Judge's sewage sludge ruling stinks
Saturday, Aug 18 2007


Sometimes judges get it wrong. A Los Angeles-based judge got it very wrong 
when he ruled recently against Kern County's Measure E.

Federal Judge Gary Feess's decision means that we need to take the fight to 
a different court. I encourage the Kern County Board of Supervisors to do 
the right thing move this battle out of Los Angeles and into the 9th Circuit 
Court of Appeals.

This is a long-term battle. I remain committed to it. Measure E was 
supported by more than 80 percent of the voters in Kern County. Other courts 
have upheld similar bans on the land-applied disposal of sewage sludge 
regardless of the source.

In Welch v. Board of Supervisors of Rappannock County, the federal district 
court for the Western District of Virginia upheld a county ordinance banning 
the land application of sewage sludge against similar challenges. Kern has 
legal standing.

The Federal Environmental Protection Agency even acknowledges that nothing 
in its rules and allowance for the land application of sludge "precludes a 
state or political subdivision thereof .... from imposing requirements for 
the use or disposal of sewage sludge more stringent" than the EPA's 
requirements. - 40 C.F.R. section 503.5B.

This fight is ongoing. The legal issues aren't as clear as the judge may 
want us to believe.

The judge showed some of his hand when he criticized the Measure E campaign 
for including colorful attacks on "Los Angeles sludge" and bemoaned the 
absence of a "Friends of Sludge" organization to campaign against the Kern 
County initiative.

Well, judge, I don't think there are too many people willing to befriend 
sludge and its haulers, other than Los Angeles and its mayor.

Los Angeles Mayor Villaraigosa issued a statement claiming he is hopeful the 
court decision "will permit us to work together to address the best 
interests of the residents of Kern and Los Angeles counties and of the 
environment."

That would be nice. It would also be beneficial to taxpayers in Kern County 
and Southern California to avoid a costly legal battle.

For a mayor who once declared his intent to be the "greenest" mayor in the 
country, this is a chance for him to show his true colors. Dumping his 
city's sludge onto Kern County hurts his environmental credentials. As he 
works to "address the best interest" of Kern County and Los Angeles, he 
should consider his alleged green credentials.

He should also consider the remarks of Cynthia Ruiz, the president of the 
City of Los Angeles Public Works Board. Ruiz claimed that an adverse ruling 
for Los Angeles in this case would have resulted in "increased pollution in 
our environment." When she said "our environment," was she just talking 
about Los Angeles? What about the increased pollution in Kern's environment? 
I appreciate Ruiz has acknowledged sludge is an environmental pollutant. So 
should Los Angeles when they are dumping it on Kern County.

We must keep fighting in the courts. Get the case out of Los Angeles and 
into the hopefully less sympathetic 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. It was no 
surprise when Los Angeles had it moved from a Fresno court to Los Angeles, 
where a more sympathetic judge got it very wrong.

Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter, represents portions of Kern County in the state 
Senate. Community Voices is an expanded commentary that may contain up to 
500 words. The Californian reserves the right to reprint commentaries in all 
formats, including on its Web page.

http://www.bakersfield.com/opinion/editorials/story/215620.html