Not in our county, cities say of sludge traffic

Not in our county, cities say of sludge traffic
Delano, Tehachapi, Arvin join cities supporting bill to keep sewage out of Kern

By CHRISTINA SOSA and GRETCHEN WENNER, Californian staff writers
e-mail: csosa@bakersfield.com and gwenner@bakersfield.com

Posted: Wednesday March 23rd, 2005, 11:20 PM
Last Updated: Wednesday March 23rd, 2005, 11:42 PM

Elected officials all over Kern County have said no to imported sludge this month, with three more cities voting this week to endorse a state Senate bill banning the transportation of biosolids over county lines.
Delano and Tehachapi city councils both voted unanimously on Monday to back a bill written by state Sen. Dean Florez, D-Shafter. Arvin threw its support behind the bill unanimously on Tuesday. Taft, Wasco and Shafter have already given support.

Florez introduced Senate Bill 926 in February in an effort to halt the nearly half-million tons of treated human waste trucked into Kern from Southern California sewage districts each year.

Florez said recently he believes Kern County is being targeted for the disposal of biosolids, and though the entire county is not directly affected right now, any city may soon find the sludge in its own back yard.

Taft Mayor Cliff Thompson agrees. Taft is right in the biosolids firing line because a new sludge processing plant approved to be built seven miles outside the city by Synagro Technologies Inc. of Houston.

Taft's council voted to support the bill March 15, the same evening councils in Wasco and Shafter unanimously gave endorsements.

But California City officials rejected the bill in a 3-to-2 vote March 15.

It's not that California City is particularly fond of sludge.

"Everybody's in consensus that we don't want this stuff over here," said City Clerk Helen Dennis. "I don't care how they clean it."

Officials there just want to wait for the final version before they endorse the bill, Dennis said, adding she hopes the issue will return to the council's agenda in the future.

Maricopa, Bakersfield and Ridgecrest will also consider endorsements, according to Florez's office.

Local support can translate into action in Sacramento, Florez said.

Florez's bill is likely to face fierce opposition from powerful sewage districts in Los Angeles, Orange and other counties. Because it would prohibit transport of sludge across county lines without special permission, the proposed law could also be frowned on by Bay Area districts, which also truck waste to rural counties.

The districts are also contributors to a sewage coalition that regularly lobbies Sacramento lawmakers.

Sludge issues have recently made news in Kern after several years of quiet.

County supervisors in the late 1990s voted to ban all but the most highly treated sludge from Kern's farmland. Before that, Southland utility districts had apparently been carting it over the Grapevine under the radar of local officials. Currently, a coalition of waste districts is suing Kern over its ban.

Most recently, news of the Synagro plant surprised even Taft officials, who didn't know about the plans until last month.

Sludge opponents worry the treated waste might trigger serious health threats. They say antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals, as well as chemicals and heavy metals from industrial sewage, are present even in highly treated waste. They also criticize federal and state regulations, saying they don't guarantee the product is safe.

Proponents say biosolids are a good way to recycle waste. They say it is a beneficial fertilizer.

http://www.bakersfield.com/local/story/5384435p-5401467c.html