Sludge Watch ==> Brockovich Betrayal - Hotline to Nowhere - Hinkley gets the shaft

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

This was a well rehearsed charade.

My personal favorites:

Betrayal by Brockovich:
Letter from Erin Brockovich who made a personal fortune from the misery of 
Hinkley residents was no where in the audience to defend Hinkley in their 
hour of need.  Instead in a letter to the Board she assured them she 
wouldn't help Hinkley residents with legal help!


Hotline to Nowhere:
The payment of $1000 to one of the Board members making the decision.
Supevisor Gonzales insisted on a complaint hotline.  Nice.
Any complaints to the County on a telephone hotline do not count as 
'complaints' under California Code.  That is why Env Health Dan Avera's 
decision to ignore the health and odor compliants on behalf of 1200 
complainants at Nursery Products' Adelanto site could not be assailed.  A 
telephone complaint is not a legal complaint.  So Gonzales earned her pay by 
instituting the telephone complaint hotline...essentially funnelling 
complaints to a blind alley where they can legally remain unactionable.



..................................................
County OKs sludge plant
Board rejects residents' pleas
Andrew Silva, Staff Writer
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:02/28/2007 12:00:00 AM PST

For five hours, residents of Hinkley and Barstow walked to the microphone 
Tuesday to tell the county Board of Supervisors they don't want see sewage 
sludge processed near their towns.
More than 100 people, many wearing T-shirts with three huge flies with a red 
slash, boarded buses early in the morning to make the trek to the County 
Government Center in San Bernardino to plead that the little town of Hinkley 
had been through enough already after its water was contaminated and people 
became sick.

Hinkley was made famous by the movie "Erin Brockovich," which chronicled the 
pollution problem.

But at 6:10 p.m. the board voted 4-0 to approve the project, which will 
convert up to 400,000 tons per year of highly treated sewage sludge into 
fertilizer.

"This isn't over," pledged Hinkley resident Norman Diaz, who temporarily 
gave up his career to lead the fight against the project. "We were confident 
we were going to win."

For recently appointed 1st District Supervisor Brad Mitzelfelt, who 
represents the High Desert, it meant voting against the wishes of a room 
full of constituents.

"It's not easy to vote for what appears to have a lot of opposition from a 
local community," he said after the meeting. "But I felt it was the right 
decision."

He said he visited the site, read the entire environmental-impact report and 
other documents, and concluded that "composting of biosolids does not pose a 
threat to human health."

Nursery Products LLC had operated a facility in the city of Adelanto but 
complaints of odors and flies triggered lawsuits against the company.

Odors and flies were reduced when Nursery Products stopped accepting 
curbside green waste, company officials said.

Still, the operation shut down and the company went looking for another 
desert site.

It considered Newberry Springs, but ran into stiff opposition there, and 
eventually settled on a spot just south of Highway 58, eight miles west of 
Hinkley.

Barstow is more than 20 miles away, but Mayor Lawrence Dale and other city 
officials, residents and business leaders testified the project could hurt 
the city's economic growth.

Diaz showed the board a video he shot Sunday of howling winds on the project 
site.

"Tell me this is not going to blow to my kids' schoolground," he said.

Dennie Hirsch, principal of Hinkley School, said it may be eight miles, but 
it's across flat land.

"This composting facility definitely threatens the safety of my children," 
he said.

Aaron Haughton, an assistant superintendent for the Yermo-

based Silver Valley Unified School District, said he was in Adelanto during 
the worst days of Nursery Products' operation.

"In Adelanto I experienced the nausea myself," he said, adding he was more 
than five miles from the facility, and that many children became ill. "This 
is a bad project."

The scientist who helped write the federal standards for biosolids, Alan 
Rubin, testified that biosolids have been extensively studied and are 
perfectly safe.

Environmental groups raised concerns that the site is in prime habitat for 
the threatened desert tortoise, and the project does little to protect the 
iconic reptile.

And the facility will emit tons of pollutants, including greenhouse gases, 
into the air, according to environmental documents on the project.

In the South Coast Air Quality Management District, which covers the urban 
areas of San Bernardino, Riverside, Orange and Los Angeles counties, such 
composting operations must be enclosed.

There is no such requirement in the Mojave Desert Air Quality Management 
District, which covers Hinkley and Barstow, though the district may consider 
adopting one next year.

Diaz said he will next pressure the Mojave Desert air board to adopt a rule 
as soon as possible, which could effectively kill the project.

Company officials were happy with the county's decision.

"We're thrilled with the outcome, and pleased the Board of Supervisors based 
their decision on science," said Brian Lochrie, spokesman for Nursery 
Products.

Environmental groups alleged the environmental-impact report was flawed 
though their attorneys could not say yet if they plan to sue.

Residents were just angry.

"It's really sad we don't have any representation in the High Desert," said 
Steve Smith of Barstow. "They obviously don't listen to sense or care about 
us."