Sludge Watch ==> Hinkley Calif: Nursery Products Reeks of Deja Vu

[Maureen Reilly]

Monday, February 19, 2007
Barstow Desert Dispatch

Commentary: Nursery Products in Hinkley reeks of deja vu

Hinkley area residents are once again facing a potential contamination of 
their ground water, as well as the possibility of foul-smelling, offensive 
odors, an onslaught of disease-carrying flies, excessive truck traffic and 
the resulting relentless noise. This is not a pretty picture, but it may be 
what could happen if Nursery Products moves into the neighborhood.

For many Hinkley and Barstow area residents this literally reeks of d'ej`a 
vu, evoking the recent memories of what happens when certain types of 
businesses and people share the same environment. Hinkley is already famous 
for the PG&E chromium-6 disaster, the results of which for some residents 
are an ongoing fact of life.

A drive out to the proposed location of the Nursery Products "sewage sludge" 
facility takes you through the beautiful rural community of Hinkley, to an 
area of untouched, pristine landscape that those of us who love the desert 
find beautiful.

Just off Highway 58, down a narrow dirt road, in an area full of creosote, 
cholla, desert salt brush, as well as other indigenous plants and animals, 
the hum of traffic can occasionally be heard in the distance. Overhead are 
the clear, blue desert skies and abundant clean air that local area 
residents appreciate so much. This is the "dump" site.

Spread across the terrain is a layer of what looks distinctly out of place: 
wood-chip compost matter. This is where the piles of sewer sludge will be 
placed. Local advocacy group "helphinkley.org" released an information sheet 
to local residents to share their concerns regarding the proposed project. 
Heavy-metal (not the musical variety), as well as pesticides, pathogens, 
viruses, medical-waste products and at least "516 noxious chemicals" will be 
composted together with sewer wastes from toilets, sinks, washers and street 
and agricultural runoff.

Another concern of Hinkley residents is that the facility will be 
"open-air," with no real barrier to protect the ground below. The sludge 
will be piled "12 feet high, and be at least 30 feet wide, and 1,000 feet 
long." Citizens are worried that these waste products will be free to blow 
in the wind, which comes from the west, thus spreading the hazardous smells 
over residential areas, as well as Hinkley and Lenwood Schools which are 8 
and 10 miles away from the site.

The proposed Hinkley facility will be exceedingly large, "the size of 160 
football fields, 160 acres, 1/2 mile square." The "helphinkley.org" fact 
sheet estimated that the facility would allow a total of "522 truck trips 
per day into the site," 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. The 
trucks will be bringing in an estimated "350,000 to 400,000 tons" of "sewage 
sludge," a combination of bio-solids and green wastes each year.

The Apple Valley-based Nursery Products has had legal problems in the past, 
as was the case in Adelanto. Health concerns were at the center of 
residents' outrage there, as well as the allegation that "the company had 
lied about the noxious odors the facility would produce. Nursery Products 
settled the suit and agreed to close the facility."
Following their legal problems in Adelanto, the company tried to relocate to 
Newberry Springs. But residents of that rural desert community fought back 
immediately, and Nursery Products withdrew its proposal.

Consultants for Nursery Products feel that Hinkley is the right site for 
their business, "I can't think of a better site in the United States to have 
a facility such as this; the isolation and the dry climate are ideal," 
stated Alan Rubin, a former EPA bio-solids scientist.

According to a new environmental impact report prepared by San Diego-based 
URS, an independent consulting firm, "the Hinkley operation would be able to 
keep odor, flies and dust to a minimum through "special measures" planned by 
the composting firm.
"Nursery Products representatives say there is no evidence that sludge 
composting causes health problems."

"In 2002, the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences 
concluded that whether exposure to sludge caused adverse health effects was 
uncertain. As a result, half a dozen federally-commissioned studies are now 
underway."

Hinkley residents and other concerned area citizens, led by 
activist-organizer Norman Diaz, are appealing their case directly to the San 
Bernardino County Board of Supervisors. A letterwriting campaign has been 
ongoing with 1,000 letters written in protest as the goal. The group 
"helphinkley.org" will be traveling down to the Feb. 27 final hearing in San 
Bernardino in buses provided by Erin Brockovich. An informational meeting 
will be held by the group at Rosita's restaurant on Wednesday Feb. 21 from 
5:30 to 8:00 p.m.

Nursery Products may have the right to develop their business, but likewise 
all concerned area residents should certainly be worried about the past 
record of Nursery Products and the obvious potential for our community to be 
once again the recipients of toxic dumping by large companies. As the saying 
goes, "It's d'ej`a vu all over again."

ABOUT THE WRITER
Carol Jensen is a long-time Barstow resident, graduating from Kennedy High 
School and Barstow College, where she was an English instructor for many 
years. Much of her time now is spent writing political and social 
commentary. She may be contacted at cajensen49 at msn.com.

http://www.desertdispatch.com/2006/117189843254986.html