Sewage Biosolid Waste Management of The County

The population growth of Riverside County which is expected to almost double by the year 2020, will result in the steady and rapid reduction of available land suitable for land application of sewage biosolids, indicating the importance of having at least one composting facility in the county. Without a sewage/biosolid composting facility, the sludge would have to be shipped great distances for disposal and/or processing and would greatly increase the sewer costs to Riverside County residents.

There are no incinerator operations in Riverside County, and the cost to incinerate waste is approximately $50 per ton, as compared to the approximate $25 per ton charged for composting by the biosolids company in Riverside County.

Due to the nature of the biosolids composting activity, it is known that the process generates a strong and often objectionable odor. The intensity of the odor may vary to a great degree and is quite dependent on temperature, wind and humidity. The odor is more intense when the windrows are turned, but dissipates within approximately one hour. The closer one is to the facility, the stronger the odor. To allow the windrows to cure, composting material must be turned every three days and temperatures deep within the windrows checked frequently. Fans are used to circulate the air, and water is sprayed while the windrows are being turned which helps to lower the intensity of the odor. A number of biosolid facilities in the United States is using enclosed facilities to eliminate unpleasant odors to the surrounding area.

The composting facility has been incurring odor complaints from encroaching housing tracts within the 2 ½ mile radius. Odor zones are identified in the CUP. Intense odors are in a 3/4 mile radius; occasional odors are expected in a 2 ½ mile radius of the composting site. There are 7,000 people living within a 3 mile radius of the facility. During an 18 month period of citizen complaints monitored, 43% of the complaints were made from the same 11 phone numbers which is not representative of the entire area. The most important criteria for determining facility odor compliance is by citizen complaints which are easily manipulated. The majority of complaints are regarding the odor, or the visual appearance of the site.

The five-member Citizens Oversight Committee only represents Supervisorial Districts One and Two. The meetings of the Citizens Oversight Committee are attended by a very small group, which does not represent the county at large, consequently, the original unbiased intent of the purposes and mission statement of the Citizens Oversight Committee are not being followed.

The county Environmental Health Department monitors the odors as required by the CUP and responds to citizen complaints. Twenty-Five monitoring stations have been established by the Environmental Health Department. A LEA inspector is available for inspection 24 hours a day. The daily monitoring of the odors are done by smell alone. The same degree of odor intensity as measured by different people solely using their olfactory sense, the nose, leads to a great variance of reported intensity. To achieve an accurate picture of odor intensity, use of an appropriate scientific instrument, or instruments, would be warranted.

Over 40 years of rigorous scientific study and research has never found any health related impacts from biosolids. "Many public health specialists, scientists, and engineers in North America and Europe believe that properly operated composting and co- composting operations present little health risk to normal compost facility employees and present negligible risk, or no risk, to nearby residences. Millner et al. (1977), Clark et al. (1983), Epstein & Epstein (1985), Boutin et al. (1987), Maritato et al. (1992), Diaz et al. (1992)" in the California State Water Resources Control Board report on General Waste Discharge Requirements of Biosolids Land Application, Draft Statewide Program EIR, June 28, 1999. No one working at the Riverside County composting facility has found it necessary to use a respirator.

After touring the 25 inspection stations and talking to some of the residents in the Temescal/El Cerrito area, the Grand Jury determined that visibility of the site was very minimal and not objectionable. Scarring done by grading on the adjacent hills is often mistaken for the actual composting facility. The residents reported they were aware of occasional odors but did not feel it affected their quality of life.