Sludge Watch ==> Sludge Plant Proposal Dumps on Hinkley - editorial

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Again rural Hinkley tells the sludge company : Get a dome or go home!

And home for Nursery Products LLC does not seem to be Apple Valley .... on 
the Integrated Waste Management Board site it says:
Name and Address of Owner and Operator:
Nursery Products, LLC
647 Camino de los Mares #108-174
San Clemente, CA  92673

http://www.ciwmb.ca.gov/agendas/mtgdocs/2003/10/00012590.doc

And further...Al Rubin is not a 'top EPA scientist'.  He is a paid shill for 
Jeff Meberg, the San Clemente-based owner of Nursery Products and a variety 
of sludge promoters around the USA.

Hmmm.... I do wonder what would be required to have Jeff put the sludge 
compost site into San Clemente?  It would have to be fully enclosed with 
biofilters!  Truck washing!  Electricity, water wastewater management! 
Contained particulate. Air scrubbers!

Hinkley wants a state-of-the art enclosed facility with biofilters.
Who can blame them?
.........................................................................................................



Sludge plant proposal dumps on Hinkley
Our view: Even eight miles away from nearest town may not be far enough for 
composting operation.
01/02/2007

Is it dangerous to humans, or is it just plain gross?
A plan to compost human sewage sludge at a spot eight miles west of Hinkley, 
outside of Barstow, has raised the ire of desert residents, who were 
similarly trod upon by PG&E last decade, when the company dumped an alleged 
carcinogen into their water, and Erin Brockovich rode to the rescue.

Now, a project approved by the county Planning Commission in November would 
allow the outdoor composting operation to do its business outside the remote 
desert town of Hinkley, using sludge carted in from other High Desert cities 
and the Inland Empire - to the chagrin of Hinkley residents.

Brockovich herself, notorious from the 2000 movie named for her, was ready 
to come to Hinkley's aid a second time, paying for buses to ferry desert 
residents to testify at the appeal hearing at the Board of Supervisors' 
final meeting of the year two weeks ago - except that the board suddenly 
tabled a majority of its most controversial business, the sludge plant 
included.

The Hinkley item now will have to wait until at least February before its, 
er, airing in front of the board. Note that Bill Postmus, formerly chairman 
of the board and 1st District supervisor, will be safely tucked away in the 
Assessor's Office by that time, away from the mess.

Apple Valley-based Nursery Products LLC wants to compost up to 400,000 tons 
per year of the gooey leftovers from treating sewage and sell it as 
agricultural fertilizer. The company claims the process is perfectly safe 
and legitimate.

Its opponents, however, complain not only of the potential stench, but of 
concerns for their health from bacteria.

Nursery Products insists there will be no odor, fly or dust problems. But 
that's exactly what resulted from its operation in Adelanto. The city had to 
sue to get them to leave in 2005. And when Newberry Springs refused to 
embrace the project, the company set its sights on another desert locale - 
in Hinkley.

The processing of human sludge for agricultural purposes may be a common 
practice in the United States, but it smells funny to Hinkley residents, 
even though the plant will be eight miles outside of town.

Surely, there should be some middle ground. It should be possible to find a 
way to accommodate a project with a legitimate end product while not 
disturbing the neighbors.

Kassie Siegel, director of the Center for Biological Diversity's climate 
program which has joined the protest, calls uncovered composting "old-style 
technology that is harmful to public health."

But is it?

A 2002 study by the National Academy of Sciences said that while there is no 
evidence that regulated biosolids pose a threat to public health, 
substantially more research is needed.

Yet a top U.S. Environmental Protection Agency scientist, Alan Rubin, said, 
"The composting process destroys all pathogenic bacteria and is absolutely 
safe."

It's no wonder that some Hinkley residents feel like lab rats, as resident 
and project critic Norman Diaz put it.

But if the proposal is ever going to pass muster, its principals should 
think about covering it up and moving it far, far away from human 
sensibilities.

And though eight miles distant would seem to cover the latter part of the 
equation, the company really ought to consider enclosing the human manure 
plant and keeping it all indoors. That way, it might just pass the stink 
test.


http://www.sbsun.com/opinions/ci_4933268