L.A. gets temporary victory in sludge fight

The Bakersfield Californian ^ | Monday, Nov 13 2006 10:05 PM | JAMES BURGER, Californian staff writer

[bannie]

L.A. gets temporary victory in sludge fight Ruling lets city, Orange County continue trucking waste to Kern

LOS ANGELES -- The city of Los Angeles and Orange County can continue spreading their treated sewage sludge on Kern County farmland under a tentative ruling issued Monday in U.S. District Court.

The ruling overturns, at least for now, the Measure E sludge ban passed by Kern County voters in June.

Judge Gary Feess said he believes state laws that push for recycling of all solid waste -- including sewage sludge -- take precedence over the Kern County ordinance that bans spreading treated human and industrial waste on unincorporated land in Kern County.

"It does not make sense. He is stripping people in Kern County of their right to plan for their future," said Kern County Supervisor Michael Rubio. "We will continue to fight him with all the resources we have to protect the citizens in Kern County."

Kern County attorneys argued that state water law, not the Integrated Waste Management Act, regulates the application of sewage sludge. They hoped the argument would sway Feess, who previously dismissed Los Angeles' claims that Kern's sludge ban violated state and federal water laws.

Kern County should not be forced to take Los Angeles sludge so the Southland city can meet its state-mandated recycling goals, said Kern County attorney Stephen Schuett.

Feess could reverse his decision after considering arguments made during Monday's morning session.

Attorneys for the city of Los Angeles claimed victory, saying they doubted the judge would change his tentative ruling.

[bannie]

I know that the LA folks will say that this stuff is not harmful. If it isn't, bury it in your own backyard, and quit forcing it on people who have V*O*T*E*D "NO! Not in OUR back yard!"

THE VOTERS SAID, "NO!"

This is like rape..."NO!" means.....NO!!!

[hnj_00]

this is real shi-ite type subject!!!

[SIDENET]

Yeah, go ahead and dump your sewage in Kern County. It's not like anyone lives there (or has a vote that matters). < s>

[libertylover]

It's an outrage to allow LA to dump in an area that doesn't want it!

The court decided the people living in Kern Country are just hicks and their views are not important. Hopefully the judge will get a slap-down from a higher court.

[bannie]

...and wait: We'll get arguments along this line.

UNbelievable that our votes mean nothing about our own health and wellbeing. (They'll also argue that it's not unhealthy...SO if it's NOT unhealthy, KEEP IT, yourself: WE SAID THAT WE REFUSE IT HERE. It is not ours!)

LA, this behavior makes you HORRIBLE NEIGHBORS!!

[Fierce Allegiance]

If they were smart, they'd have homeowners and golf courses buying the stuff off them like Milwaukee does.

[bannie]

We're a conservative bunch. I guess, to LA elitist attitude, this means that we are "hicks."

[bannie]

It doesn't come to us as refined as that! We get SLUDGE. The crops that they try to grow over it to further treat it are not really crops. They "grow" corn over it which comes up in occasional clumps no higher than a foot...where it will come up. THIS is NOT fertilizer. It is human waste in SLUDGE form. It stinks.

Further, the nearby Buena Vista Lake has had to be closed for swimming a number of times because of "mysterious" contamination. (Ironically, LA has so flooded that lake with vacationers, there's no room there for locals.)

[Fierce Allegiance]

Is the sludge placed on private property without the owners consent? Are they in violation of state or federal regulations in doing so?

I understand this is personal, but how is this different than the rest of the NIMBY cases I read about thta have driven up both the cost of disposal and likelyhood of less-than-legal disposal (more often in trash disposal)?

[bannie]

It is on private land...but we have farming around here, and what gets dumped on one piece of land affects much more than that land. Beyond the land, citizens here drink the water (groundtable-seepage) and breathe the air.

This has been debated thoroughly here, and tempers do get high. We believe that we are fighting for our health, here. LA needs to learn to contain itself and not arrogantly dump its waste on its neighbors.

The problem now has moved into one of CITIZENS' RIGHTS. Our rights have, herein, been usurped by a government which "knows better."

This is wrong in so many ways.

[Fierce Allegiance]

So is the person who owns the land compensated? Are there containment measures in place?

Look, I'm trying to see your side in the fight, not disagreeing, but I wouldn't support another NIMBY bunch of whiners without reason. I've seen what the NIMBY types did in Vermont, and it's not pretty.

[wgflyer]

While I was in attendant university in Austin, Texas, there was a persistent smell of sewage in my neighborhood on warm summer nights. As it turned out, the local treatment facility was waaay overloaded. A storm broke a retaining wall and raw sewage killed a bunch of critters in a nearby creek. This prompted a lawsuit by the state against the city of Austin. Local building contractors, who had subdivisions going up like weeds in the area, pleaded to join in the defense of the city. The temporary edict, while the suit was under consideration in the courts, was that no more water hookups could be made until things were worked out. This, of course, was ignored by contractors with the city's full acquiescence and the State's apathy. I called to rat on the contractors and the city guy I talked to couldn't care less. Meanwhile, raw sewage was trucked 24 hours a day to a facility north of Austin, not yet overloaded, for months. This destroyed the local road that was used, a great side benefit for local taxpayers. I left Austin before this was worked out, but I imagine that the result was a bunch of hidden payoffs. House builders are well connected. I imagine that the Kern county situation is very similar in nature.

As an aside, I wonder what kind of aroma therapy graces the good residents of Austin these days.

[bannie]

It's the land owner's business.

There are NOT containment measures in place. Those with positive interests all claim that it's harmless.

Citizens here disagree.

The neighbors of the land owners disagree.

IF IT IS HARMLESS, THEY DON'T NEED TO SHIP IT OUT. IF IT IS HARMLESS, DUMP IT IN THEIR OCEAN--a little more "dirt" won't harm the huge ocean.

As I said, we have been through this aspect before. My complaint now is that Kern County citizens refused their sludge--human feces--and they have over-ruled the voters regarding their own lives.

[bannie]

BTW: Human waste is not like that of horses and cattle. We eat meat. Our waste is pretty toxic.

Remember Typhoid Mary? It was her human waste which produced the deadly toxins which killed those around her. Bodily fluids are wonderful transporters of disease.

[Fierce Allegiance]

The product shown in post 6 is made from human wastes. It's sold to homeowners & golf courses all over the country.

[TXnMA]

Judge Gary Feess

LOL! The first time I read this post on the disposal of human feces, I mis-read the Judge's last name...

[bannie]

The product shown in post 6 is made from human wastes. It's sold to homeowners & golf courses all over the country.

Then let them provide the necessary treatments to produce this wonderful product at home. WE said, "No!"

[Fierce Allegiance]

Good luck in your battle.

[dforest]

Probably messing up the spinach and the lettuce.

[bannie]

Thank you.

With a government thinking like this, we need it.