Sludge Watch ==> Florez: Brings in Bill 55 - "you say sludge is great? indemnify us!"

[Maureen Reilly]

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Shafter Sen. Florez to introduce Senate Bill 55 to further regulate sludge 
importation


Posted By: brynn galindo


Posted 1/4/07

BAKERSFIELD - With his biosolids ban initiative hung up in court, Shafter 
Sen. Dean Florez is launching a new strategy to protect Kern County’s 
groundwater from the land application of treated sewage sludge.
Florez will introduce Senate Bill 55 Friday which would require southland 
sludge haulers coming into Kern County to test every truckload of biosolids 
to make sure sanitation districts exporting the sludge are meeting federal 
limits for toxic pollutants and heavy metals.

“Call the sludge peddlers to task and … ask them, ‘Do you, yourself, know 
what’s really in these trucks? You feel so comfortable dumping on our side 
of the fence … then indemnify us, you should feel comfortable that it is 
safe,’” Florez said. “It’s not enough to just have words--it’s good; it’s 
fertilizer and amendment. If it is, then certify it is. Indemnify us from 
something wrong and then I think we’ll feel more comfortable in knowing 
what’s actually in those trucks.”

Bradley Hogin, an attorney for Orange County Sanitation District, said he 
hasn’t seen the details of Florez’s bill, but said the transportation and 
application of biosolids is already heavily regulated by state and federal 
governments.


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