Kern County Grand Jury • 2023-2024

The Transformation of Trash in Kern County From The Garbage Truck to...?*

Published: July 13, 2023 24 pages
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Findings and Recommendations 8 findings

F1
There are alternative technologies that would increase the efficiency of waste management. Since the current economic burden of monitoring a closed landfill continues indefinitely, the ability to process more than 90% of trash would result in diminished landfill acreage. This translates to savings for Kern County residents and lower tipping fees for haulers.
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The Board of Supervisors should direct the Public Works Department to implement technologies that mitigate the financial and environmental costs. This should be underway by January 1, 2024, to ensure a more stable waste management system in the future. (Findings 1, 4 and 5)
F2
The efficient processing of solid waste requires a certain number of workers. However, at present, City and County waste facilities are understaffed.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
The Board of Supervisors should direct the Public Works Department to hire sufficient staff for the waste facilities and have the already budgeted positions filled by July 1, 2023. (Finding 2)
F3
Unfunded State Mandates regarding the revisions of waste management place an added financial burden on local governments.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
The Board of Supervisors should direct the Public Works Department to apply for grants to offset the costs associated with State Mandates by July 1, 2023. (Finding 3)
F4
The advancements of recycling trash into marketable products will offset the cost of the State Mandates and be a significant source of revenue both from and for waste management for Kern County.
Related Recommendations (1)
R4
The Board of Supervisors should make a loan to the Public Works Enterprise Fund to finance advanced technologies by October 1, 2023. (Finding 4)
F5
Mixed loads of construction site waste materials periodically end up at the recycling area instead of the landfill.
No recommendations for this finding
F6
Some revenue from recycling paper is lost needlessly due to exposure to rain at the City of Bakersfield's MRF.
Related Recommendations (1)
R5
The Bakersfield City Council should direct the Public Works Department to provide an appropriate cover for paper to be recycled at the City of Bakersfield MRF, by July 1, 2023. (Finding 6)
F7
The Mt. Vernon Green Waste Facility generates two major by-products: mulch and a nutrient-rich soil amendment. The public should be aware that this valuable garden resource is available at no cost, and the soil amendment is available for $1/bag or $20/yard to be picked up at the facility.
Related Recommendations (1)
R7
The Bakersfield City Council should direct the Public Works Department to create a low- cost marketing plan for the distribution of mulch and soil amendment by March 15, 2023. (Finding 7) NOTES: The Kern County Department of Public Works should post a copy of this report • where it will be available for public review. The City of Bakersfield Department of Public Works should post a copy of this report • where it will be available for public review. RESPONSE DEADLINES: REQUIRED WITHIN 90 DAYS FROM: The Kern County Board of Supervisors must respond to Findings 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 8; Recommendations 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 REQUIRED WITHIN 90 DAYS FROM: The City of Bakersfield City Council must . respond to Findings 2, 3, 6, 7, and 8; Recommendations 5, 6, and 7 RESPONSES ARE REQUIRED PURSUANT TO PENAL CODE §§933(c) AND 933.05 WITHIN 90 DAYS TO: PRESIDING JUDGE KERN COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT 1415 TRUXTUN AVENUE, SUITE 212 BAKERSFIELD, CA 93301 TRUXTUN AVENUE, SUITE 600 BAKERSFIELD, CA 93301 Reports issued by the Grand Jury do not identify individuals interviewed. Cal. Penal Code §929 requires that reports of the Grand Jury not contain the name of any person or facts leading to the identity of any person who provides information to the Grand Jury. BIBLIOGRAPHY: Bakersfield City. Garbage / Recycling | Bakersfield, CA - Official Website (bakersfieldcity.us) 2022 - 2023 Grand Jury Bakersfield. https://www.bakersfieldcity.us. Garbage-Recycling City of Bakersfield: Fiscal Year 2022-23 Proposed Budget HTTPS://CONTENT.CIVICPLUS.COM/API/ASSETS/7EC70A37-028F-46FE-9059- 485449B20CA4?CACHE=1800 Fact Sheet: Biochar | American University, Washington, DC Husock, Howard. The Declining Case for Municipal Recycling. June 2020. Inventory of U.S. Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Sinks: 1990-2020 Natural Gas and California, 2020 Society of Environmental Scientists. Where Does All That Recycling Go? | SEJ https://stanfordmag.org/contents/how-much-recycling-actually-gets-recyled 2022 - 2023 Grand Jury BOARD OF SUPERVISORS KATHLEEN KRAUSE SUPERVISORS CLERK OF BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Phillip Peters......District 1 Kern County Administrative Center Zack Scrivner......District 2 1115 Truxtun Avenue, 5th Floor Jeff Flores......District 3 Bakersfield, California 93301 David Couch......District 4 Telephone (661) 868-3585 Leticia Perez......District 5 TTY Relay 800-735-2929 February 14, 2023 The Honorable J. Eric Bradshaw, Presiding Judge Kern County Superior Court 1415 Truxtun Avenue Bakersfield, CA 93301 Dear Judge Bradshaw: Transmitted herewith is the Board of Supervisors' response to the 2022-2023 Grand Jury's Final Report titled The Transformation of Trash in Kern County. The Board of Supervisors appreciates the Grand Jury's review and input. Sincerely, 1 7h Jeff Flores, Chair Kern County Board of Supervisors JF/SH/COMPL_GJ Public Works A
F8
Incorrect disposal of non-recyclables into the blue can complicates sorting when done by hand and can contaminate the entire container, adding to the cost of processing. 2022 - 2023 Grand Jury COMMENTS: The Grand Jury toured solid and wastewater sites within and adjacent to the City of Bakersfield and found each of these facilities to be run efficiently and to the best of their capacity given the current labor shortage. Ecological considerations of management are foremost in mind. The workers the Grand Jury spoke with at the facilities were dedicated to the integrity of the waste processing industry, although they could be making more money elsewhere. The Grand Jury thanks the County and City officials who so graciously gave their time and shared their expertise.
Related Recommendations (1)
R6
The Board of Supervisors and the Bakersfield City Council should direct their respective Public Works Departments to issue stickers for both the blue and green cans as a reminder of which items go into each. These stickers should be enclosed with the annual trash pick-up schedule beginning July 1, 2023. (Finding 8)

Comments 2

No Responses Found 2

Government entities assigned to respond to this report. No response documents have been linked in our database.

Bakersfield City
Kern County County

* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.