Sludge Watch ==> A court victory for Hinkley residents against Nursury Products LLC

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

I'm sure many of you are following this case.  The folks in the little 
desert town of Hinkley California, together with their environmental laywer 
have been doing heroic work trying to protect themselves from a sludge 
company called "Nursery Products LLC".  Nursery Products was court ordered 
to stop operations in Adelanto California due to public health problems 
stemming from their open air mountains of sewage sludge.

First the company tried to get a foothold in Newberry Springs, where a 
vigorous opposition from the local Community Services District ran them off. 
  Now they have targetted Hinkley..a town so small it doesn't have any local 
form of government.  The locals have been asking for the same level of 
environmental controls and protections that are available in other parts of 
California.  State of the art sludge facilities have extensive air 
polltution controls, while the Hinkley project has no water, no electricity, 
and plans to just put the sludge out in the open desert where flies will 
breed and the sludge will blow out on the neighbors....just like it did in 
Adelanto.

Adelanto info:
http://list.web.net/archives/sludgewatch-l/2005-June/000672.html

Winning this fight in San Bernardino County is no small matter.

San Bernardino Couty has a legacy of corruption scandals that are still 
being uncovered:
http://www.sbcounty.gov/pressreleases/docs/1029mayssettlementrelease1-13-05.pdf

And the former Supervisor for this District - Bill Postmus - whose support 
for the project frustrated and angered his constituents - is now under 
investigation by the Grand Jury and search warrants were executed this week 
by the Sherrif's department:
http://www.desertdispatch.com/news/assessor_3048___article.html/county_office.html

Hinkley residents are now preparing for the next leg of this ordeal.
Erin - Wherever you are... could you take a moment to help the town that 
made you a famous millionaire?

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Judge: Compost facility needs further environmental review

More study needed on feasibility of containment of facility
April 11, 2008
By Jason Smith, staff writer


BARSTOW — A judge’s ruling issued Friday found portions of the environmental 
review of a contested composting facility to be built near Hinkley will have 
to be redone before development proceeds.


The ruling by Barstow Superior Court Judge John Vander Feer set aside the 
county’s certification of the Environmental Impact Report of the Hawes 
Composting facility to be built by Nursery Products LLC. The proposed 
facility would ferment waste, including human waste, to form compost.

Attorneys representing Hinkley residents that oppose the facility challenged 
the County of San Bernardino’s environmental review of the proposed 
composting site. They alleged the review failed to adequately address the 
facility’s potential impact on wildlife, water and air quality.
Additionally, the attorneys alleged that the size of the facility’s planned 
operation violated the California Environmental Quality Act and that the 
environmental review failed to evaluate determine whether enclosing the 
composting site was economically feasible.

Judge Vander Feer reviewed the 15,232 pages of documents the parties 
submitted. He ruled to set aside the county’s certification of the 
Environmental Impact Report because the review did not assess whether 
enclosure was feasible and because the review did not identify the water 
source to be used in the project. He found that the impacts to air quality 
and wildlife were adequately assessed in the review and that the size of the 
facility does not violate California’s environmental law.

The decision reads in part:

“The County failed to properly evaluate a technological feasible mitigation 
measure. Its finding that that an enclosed composting facility was not 
economically feasible was not supported by substantial evidence or the 
Administrative Record.”

Shortly after the project was approved in February 2007, members of 
HelpHinkley.org which opposes the facility, sued Nursery Products and the 
county to block its development.

Norm Diaz, an activist with HelpHinkley.org, said the group’s members are 
pleased with the decision.

“I think our concerns were validated,” he said. “I think (county supervisor 
Brad) Mitzelfelt and (former county supervisor Bill) Postmus and the county 
should have never approved this project and the judge sided with us.”

Diaz said he hopes that Vander Feer’s decision will prompt the Mojave Desert 
Air Quality Management District to approve a rule requiring that compost 
facilities within the county are enclosed.

Ingrid Brostrom, an attorney with the center for Race, Poverty and the 
Environment, which represents Hikley residents, applauded the decision.
“Of course we are happy about the decision and we are encouraged that the 
judge saw matters our way,” she said. “Clearly we hope that when the county 
does its further analysis they will realize that an enclosed facility is 
feasible and is the best route to take.”

David Wert, spokesman for the County of San Bernardino, said that county 
officials were pleased that the judge found the environmental review to be 
properly done in three out of the five issues raised.

“The county feels that except for a couple of minor issues the Board of 
Supervisors decision (to allow the composting facility) was upheld,” he 
said. “The county doesn’t believe it made a mistake in the EIR or did 
anything insufficient but we have the judge’s ruling and we’ll move forward 
from here.”

Nursery Products’ director of operations, Chris Seney, said Vander Feer’s 
ruling may delay the project but the company plans to proceed developing the 
compost site.

“Nursery Products will still push ahead; this will not change plans in any 
way,” he said. “We respect the court’s decision and we’ll do that additional 
work if necessary.”

He said the company has heard from several organizations and agencies that 
are looking for an closer outlet to dispose of their biosolids and are 
waiting for the Hawes facility to open.

Contact the writer:
(760) 256-4126 or jason_smith at link.freedom.com

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For more background on Hinkley and its challenges visit:

Tales of a Toxics Tourist
Hinkley: Alive and Kicking
http://www.gcmonitor.org/article.php?list=class&class=20