Sludge Watch ==> California - Mojave Air Board Protects Profits Over Air Quality

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

It is unconscionable that this kind of open air haul and dump operation is 
allowed to go forward, especially from a company that has a terrible track 
record of pollution in Adelanto at a facility that was less than 1/40th of 
the size of this one.

Why should some regions get protection and other areas, like poor Hinkley, 
be left with the flies, dust, volatile organic compounds, and truck filth 
from this proposed sludge compost facility?

.........................................

*http://www.desertdispatch.com/opinion/sludge_1442___article.html/air_board.html

Air Board staff protects profits over air quality*

The Agency that protects and controls our air quality, the Mojave Desert Air 
Quality Management District (MDAQMD), has been required to implement new 
rules for sludge composting in the High Desert.

The Board could have required that all large scale commercial sludge 
composters need to be enclosed to capture the hazardous gases and dangerous 
dust these large sites produce. The neighboring San Joaquin and South Coast 
Air Districts have decided to protect their people and have required those 
sludge composters enclose all large sludge facilities in those Districts. 
But for some reason our Air Board staff has decided that it would cut too 
much into the profits of sludge companies to protect the people of the High 
Desert in the same manner.

Why it is cost-effective north and south of us, but not here is a question 
we must ask them. The Hinkley sludge dump will bring in 400,000 tons a year. 
The dumpers get $42 a ton to haul and between $25-$75 a ton as a tipping 
fee. We estimate this will equal well over $30 million a year, just to bring 
in the waste and does not include any revenue made from sales of the low 
grade compost they will produce.

I was an art student in college, but was required to study some economics. 
In a cost analysis, it seems like the profits of a company should be 
included in the study. But the MDAQMD staff disagrees and feels any safety 
measures would hinder potential sludge dumpers from coming into the High 
Desert. The Board of Supervisors also agrees that we should not require 
sludge dumps to be enclosed. Our supervisors speak about being a leader in 
greenhouse gas reduction, but then approve and invite their sludge dump 
friends to come here to profit without the safeguards other areas require. 
Sludge composting will produce very large amounts of greenhouse gases and 
other harmful byproducts.

The Hinkley sludge dump brings in eight jobs and a truck of waste every 
eight minutes, 365 days a year. But the MDAQMD staff and San Bernardino 
County Supervisors think that requiring the safeguards others enjoy would be 
too costly to the dumper’s profits.

There are many companies that would build an enclosed facility here and 
still make a huge profit. The Hinkley dumpers do not seem to be one of them. 
They refused to consider a covered facility. They refused to consider 
washing the trucks after they dump the peanut butter like sludge on the 
ground. They refuse to capture the gas and dust, known to be unhealthful. 
They refuse to think of our safety and only think of making as much profit 
as possible. Our County Supervisors and MDAQMD staff side with the dumpers 
and against our health and future.

We need to convince the MDAQMD Board that we deserve clean air as much as 
those communities north and south of us. We need to elect county supervisors 
who will think of our children, our health and our future over the profits 
of out of town dumpers looking to make money at our expense.

For more information, go to www.helphinkley.org. Get involved, write a 
letter, go to a meeting and remember to vote for representatives who will 
protect our air, water and children.

*D. Norman Diaz*
/Hinkley/