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Air regulators aiming to balance goals
| Sunday, Jan 6 2008 8:20 PM
Last Updated: Monday, Jan 7 2008 7:12 AM
Regulators trying to cut air pollution from compost facilities face a potential Catch-22 as some of their ideas could hurt efforts to divert trash from landfills.
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San Joaquin Valley air regulators will start this week to draft the state's first major regulation to address harmful emissions created when grass clippings and tree limbs are processed into compost.
Recycling greenwaste in this way has been a major part of the state's program to reduce the amount of waste destined for landfills.
"To put it simply, if the air regulators make it too difficult to compost, then the waste regulators would have a problem with keeping things out of the landfill," said Kevin Barnes, solid waste director for Bakersfield, which operates a large-scale greenwaste compost facility. "So it's a balance that would have to be found between the two agencies."
Currently, the state requires at least 50 percent of the waste generated in a jurisdiction be recycled or otherwise diverted from landfills. In Bakersfield, and other places, greenwaste composting plays a major role in meeting this goal.
But the process is not entirely green.
To make compost, the waste is sorted and piled in rows to dry out. During the drying process, gases known as volatile organic compounds are released from the greenwaste into the air. The gases react with other chemical compounds in sunlight to form smog.
Facilities that compost sewage sludge face similar problems. The air district recently released a new set of rules for sludge composters that imposed strict measures to reduce the release of those gases.
About 7.6 million tons of greenwaste is composted in the San Joaquin Valley annually. Twelve of the 32 greenwaste compost facilities in the valley handle about 90 percent of the waste. Bakersfield's greenwaste facility is one of those 12, according to George Heinen, supervisor for rule development for the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.
The district's greenwaste composting rules are in the early stages, Heinen said. Scoping meetings will start this week, followed by public workshops and a draft rule is due in about a year.
To ensure greenwaste recycling isn't jeopardized, the state Integrated Waste Management Board will provide input as the regulations develop, said agency spokeswoman Jamie Cameron-Harley.
"We understand air quality is important," she said. "It's balancing what the needs are for air quality and realizing (composting facilities) keep greenwaste out of landfills and use it for a better purpose."
How to go
The San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District will hold a scoping meeting on the new rule for greenwaste composting 1:30 p.m. Thursday.
The meeting will be held in Fresno but the public can participate via videoconferencing at the district’s local office, 2700 M St., Suite 275.
For more information, visit www.valleyair.org or call 326-6900.