Sludge Watch ==> Ventura California contemplates sludge into the landfill

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

Once again the reporter was given false information about the proper naming 
of sludge.

SEWAGE SLUDGE - is the proper technical language in the sludge US federal 
regulations
'processed sewage' is the language of the Canadian Fertilizer Act
'biosolids' is the invented name stemming from a public relations firm 
contest to find a pretty name for sewage sludge.


......................................................
http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/jul/24/sewage-disposal-worries-residents/

Sewage disposal worries residents
Board to vote on Toland Landfill

By Tony Biasotti (Contact)
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Sky Gilbar / Special to The Star Gordon Kimball stands among the trees in 
his avocado orchard. Kimball's avocado farm near Santa Paula is also near 
the Toland Road Landfill. Kimball is concerned that disposing of biosolids 
at the site could endanger his crops.

Sky Gilbar / Special to The Star Gordon Kimball stands among the trees in 
his avocado orchard. Kimball's avocado farm near Santa Paula is also near 
the Toland Road Landfill. Kimball is concerned that disposing of biosolids 
at the site could endanger his crops.
Should sludge be handled at the Tolan Road landfill?


It's folk wisdom in the Santa Clara River Valley: Locals say when the rest 
of Ventura County doesn't want something — a jail, a landfill, an asphalt 
plant — it ends up in Santa Paula or Fillmore.

Gordon Kimball, who farms avocados just west of Santa Paula, says he sees it 
happening now with a proposal to dispose of treated sewage at the nearby 
Toland Road Landfill.

What makes it even worse, he said, is that the landfill would be taking 
waste the people of Kern County have decided they won't take.

The Ventura County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to vote today on 
whether to allow the landfill to accept the sewage waste, which is known 
technically as "biosolids" and more colorfully as "sludge." The county 
Planning Commission approved the proposal last month, and a group led by 
Kimball appealed that decision to the Board of Supervisors.

Taking sludge to the Toland Road Landfill would clear up a headache for many 
Ventura County cities.

Simi Valley buries its sludge at the landfill just outside of its city 
limits, but the rest of the county trucks the stuff to Kern County, where it 
is used for compost or plowed into empty fields.

Last year, Kern County voters passed an initiative to ban the practice in 
most circumstances.

Ventura Regional Sanitation District officials and county planners say the 
treated sludge is safe, much safer than the sewage that's already treated at 
wastewater plants in Santa Paula, Fillmore and the rest of the county.

"We're transporting material that's already being transported statewide and 
nationwide, and we're putting it in a landfill, and it has no way of getting 
out of the landfill," said Mark Lawler, the Sanitation District's general 
manager. The district owns and operates the Toland Road Landfill.

Contamination concerns

But Kimball worries about the risk, however remote, of pathogens from the 
sludge coming into contact with his avocados. An outbreak of E. coli — such 
as the one set off last year when spinach in Northern California was 
contaminated by cattle feces — would be devastating to Ventura County's 
agricultural industry, he said.

"That's the thing that keeps you awake at night," Kimball said. "We take 
pride in delivering safe, healthy food. As farmers, we eat this, too."

Lawler said the sludge will be treated until it has no detectable pathogens.

"The dry material that's coming out is a far superior product, more 
sterilized, than what's coming out of the (sewage) treatment plants, and 
those are near the fields," he said. "We didn't expect pathogens to be such 
an issue. We have good science behind this."

The biosolids facilities at Toland Road would process up to 360 tons of 
sludge per day, enough to handle the entire county's needs, according to 
Planning Department documents.

Thousand Oaks and Oxnard have volunteered to send their sludge immediately, 
and the other cities could follow suit. The sludge would arrive on covered 
trucks and would be dried in covered hoppers until the water content is down 
to about 25 percent. The final product would then be used to cover part of 
the exposed portion of the landfill.

More traffic expected

Lawler said he expected the complaints to center on traffic, and some of 
them have.

About 80 to 100 trucks now come in and out of the landfill every day from 
Highway 126. Adding biosolids dryers would bring about 25 more round trips a 
day, Lawler said, leaving the landfill still short of its maximum permitted 
traffic of 152 round trips per day.

"In terms of whether that's a noticeable difference, that's an individual's 
judgment call," he said, noting that more than 30,000 vehicles a day pass by 
on Highway 126.

Santa Clara Elementary School, also known as the "Little Red Schoolhouse," 
is on Highway 126 near Toland Road. Principal Kari Skidmore said the idea of 
bringing any more trucks to the landfill is "a very scary thought."

"We are deeply concerned about the extra traffic," she said. "Already, the 
126 is very busy, and they travel at very high speeds. It's really scary for 
our parents."

The Ventura Regional Sanitation District bans trucks from turning left onto 
Toland Road when school is starting in the morning and getting out in the 
afternoon. It's an informal agreement, but if the sludge-drying operation is 
approved, it will become a permanent rule, Lawler said.

Today, the Board of Supervisors will hear from the Sanitation District, the 
county planners, and the opponents of the sludge disposal plan.

"I'm really not sure what to expect, but we've had a pretty extensive public 
outreach over the last year and a half," Lawler said. "I think the (Planning 
Commission) vote reflects that we have a good plan."