Sludge Watch ==> Sludge meeting held in private - but Synagro agrees to back off permit change

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

If you want to watch this enlightening little video of Councilman Thompson 
arriving with the press and being told this is a 'private' meeting with 
Synagro.  He is understandably upset.  The little video interviews in this 2 
minute long feature show just how frustrating it is to be stonewalled by the 
waste industry.  Reporters waited outside in the parking lot.  To watch the 
video go to this webpage from the Bakersfield Californian and click on the 
box.

http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/92597.html

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Synagro agrees to keep permit as is -- for now
BY GRETCHEN WENNER, Californian staff writer
e-mail: gwenner at bakersfield.com

Wednesday, Jan 3 2007 10:30 PM


For now, the new sludge composting facility outside Taft will operate under 
existing rules.

More video from Bakersfield.com:
    A potentially ugly showdown over proposed permit changes was avoided, at 
least temporarily, by a closed-door meeting late Wednesday afternoon between 
a few Taft city leaders and representatives of Synagro.

Despite some tension before doors shut, attendees emerged smiling about 6:15 
p.m. and told a group of reporters they'd had a good session.

Details of the hour-and-a-half discussion at the Taft Chamber of Commerce 
weren't given, but Synagro representatives said they would shelve a 
controversial request to extend sludge stockpiling times.

The company wanted Taft officials to feel comfortable with the operation, 
said Liz Ostoich, project developer for Synagro. The delay will give them 
time to learn details about the plant's processes.

Synagro was expected to go before county planning commissioners on Jan. 11 
to ask for permission to stockpile composted sewage sludge on site for 90 
days. The existing permit allows storage of seven days' worth of material.

In June, Kern voters approved Measure E, a local ballot initiative that bans 
use of treated human and industrial sewage sludge as fertilizer on 
unincorporated land here. Hundreds of thousands of tons of sludge from 
Southern California ride over the Grapevine in big rigs every year into Kern 
County.

Measure E is currently being challenged in court. The measure doesn't stop 
Synagro's huge new composting facility from operating.

It does mean composted sludge can't be used as bulk fertilizer in Kern's 
unincorporated areas, so Synagro must find takers elsewhere. The plant is 
currently processing only sludge and green waste from the city of 
Bakersfield, Ostoich said.

Only two of Taft's five-member City Council attended, allowing the session 
to take place in secret without breaking public meeting laws. Councilman 
Cliff Thompson, however, didn't realize the meeting was intended to be 
private.

Thompson said he'd requested a special council session prior to the planning 
commission vote and assumed Wednesday's gathering was that meeting. He'd 
contacted several news agencies to alert them beforehand.

Thompson became irate when he arrived and found reporters had been asked to 
leave, although he was pleased with the outcome afterward. For a video of 
Thompson's irritation, see www.bakersfield.com.

Other attendees were Synagro representatives Lorrie Loder and Scott 
Deatherige; Randy Abbott, a local consultant for Synagro and the Orange 
County Sanitation District; Bob Hampton, owner of hauling firm Westside 
Waste Management; Roe Darnell, president of Taft College; Robert Gorson Jr., 
Taft's city manager; and Taft Mayor Paul Linder.

Rudy Salas, a representative of state Sen. Dean Florez's office, said he'd 
originally been invited. But when the meeting started, Salas was asked to 
leave, he said.

Sludge suit continues

Meanwhile, county lawyers are gearing up to defend Kern's sludge ban in a 
Los Angeles County courtroom. Several organizations have said they may help, 
said Bernard Barmann, the county's top lawyer.

Offers of outside help increased after a federal judge in November decided 
the sludge-industry plaintiffs could continue spreading their material on 
Kern farmland for the time being, Barmann said.

"The fact the judge ruled that way ... has caused concern," he said.

Barmann's office has been talking with folks from the Kern County Water 
Agency, the California Farm Bureau Federation, the Center on Race, Poverty 
and the Environment and local food growers, he said.

Kern voters overwhelmingly approved Measure E in June. The city of Los 
Angeles and an array of sludge-industry interests then filed suit 
challenging the measure in a federal district court in Los Angeles County. 
In late November, Judge Gary Feess granted a preliminary injunction that 
said Measure E can't be enforced until the merits of the case are decided.

Those merits are the next step in the bench trial, Barmann said.

"Now we're into the meat of the case," he said.

The next court date hasn't yet been set, he said.

http://www.bakersfield.com/102/story/92597.html