Hanford Sentinel

December 20, 2005

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Bradley Angel Greenaction

(415) 248-5010

Chem Waste asks for new refuse site

By Seth Nidever, Sentinel Reporter

HANFORD - The company that buries most of Kings County's trash at a Kettleman Hills disposal site wants to build a new landfill there. Chemical Waste Management Inc. is seeking the county's approval to build B-17, a new solid waste site, at its 1,600-acre facility 3 -1/2 miles southwest of Kettleman City. The facility originally accepted only hazardous waste but expanded operations in 1997 to include regular refuse.

At a Kings County Planning Agency meeting Monday to hear public comment on the project's environmental impact, nobody spoke out for or against the project. The 45-day comment period on the draft environmental impact report - the state-required review to ensure that all harmful environmental effects are dealt with - closed at 5 p.m. Monday.

Written comments were submitted by the Kings County Department of Public Health - Environmental Health Services, CalTrans and Greenaction/People for Clean Air and Water in Kettleman City, according to Sandy Roper, an assistant zoning administrator for the county.

Greenaction, a San Francisco-based advocacy organization, joined with the Kettleman City group to criticize the environmental report.
The document fails to account for the cumulative impact of a variety of projects near Kettleman City already in the pipeline, said Erica Swinney, a community organizer for Greenaction.

These projects include sludge from a sewage composting plant a few miles to the southwest that will go on surrounding farmland, a new hazardous waste landfill at the Kettleman Hills site and an experimental proposal by Chem Waste to soak trash with wastewater to break it down faster. The sludge composting plant will be built by the Los Angeles County Sanitation District.

The combined impact of all three projects was accounted for in the environmental review, according to Bill Zumwalt, county planning director. Zumwalt said researchers studied whether all of the projects, when taken together, would push various pollutants over the limit. “My recollection is that there is no exceedence of criteria in any area where anyone is located,” he said.

The sludge plant and the experimental trash-soaking proposal have already been approved by the county. Chem Waste is currently seeking permits from different regional and state agencies. The sludge plant generated its share of controversy, with county residents coming out for and against, before it was ultimately approved.

Lately, the hazardous waste proposal has been the main target of Kettleman City residents and Greenaction activists. “Ultimately, I would love to see (the Kettleman Hills site) close,” Swinney said.

All the written comments on B-17 still have to be evaluated and incorporated into a final version of the environmental report. After that, the Kings County Planning Agency will recommend that the Kings County Planning Commission either accept or reject the document. “If there is a hole in the analysis, of course we'll redo it,” Zumwalt said.