Have Sludge, Will Travel!

I reported this past October on the sorry and costly state of Bayridge septic tank's dead sludge. Ten tanks need to have their expired (read: dead, dead, dead) sludge sucked up and carted off. For those inclined to read about that, follow the link below. The County has not come after the LOCSD waiving legal papers for non-compliance on emptying those tanks yet, but who like waiting around for that (————) to drop? They are not going to let those poop piles fall between the cracks.
 https://losewersaga.blogspot.com/2018/10/bayridges-stale-sludge.html

Thanks to the persistence of the LOCSD's Utilities Manager Jose Acosta and General Manager Renee Osborne, an excellent and wayyyyy cheaper solution has been found! Rather than the $110,000 mentioned at the last episode, a company called appropriately, East Bay MUD has come to the rescue. Bayridge is now looking at around $20,000, give or take, and they already have $50,000 in their reserves!

There is a bit of Wiki-info on EBMUD, aside from the link above—they look like a pretty large operation; this Bayridge stuff will be but a tiny drop in the night soil bucket for them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Bay_Municipal_Utility_District

Cambria's Sludge Stench!

P.U., 400 tons of it!

Read about it here in the Trib:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/community/cambrian/article115146178.html

Sludge Next Week On BOS Agenda

No kidding, I'm not talking about the contents of some of the usual public speaker's screeds! This is about sludge land applications!

The Los Osos Habitat Conservation EIR (part of the sewer project) is also on the agenda! I'll put in links to the relevant documents when they become available.

Tuesday, October 25, 2016
CONSENT AGENDA - REVIEW AND APPROVAL

Items: Set for Hearing:

1. Introduction of an amendment to Title 8, Section 8.13.030 of the San Luis ObispoCounty Code, to extend the expiration date from March 31, 2018 to March 31, 2021 forOrdinance 3258: Moratorium on the Land Application of Treated SewageSludge/Biosolids; and find that the project is exempt from Section 21000 et seq. of theCalifornia Public Resources Code (CEQA). Hearing date set for November 8, 2016. AllDistricts. 

Consent Agenda - Planning & Building Items: 

8. Request to approve a contract amendment with Rincon Consultants Inc. in the amount of$67,975 to prepare the Los Osos Habitat Conservation Plan Environmental ImpactReport/Environmental Impact Statement. District 2. 

Sludge Update!

Read what happened on Tuesday on the sludge issue:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article54396495.html

The can got kicked down the road again (this time by Arnold, Compton and Mecham)—much like the Los Osos sewer was back in the 1980s. And what happened? Why, it got more expensive to do! So my sewery prediction is, the EIR (Environmental Impact Report) that they were deciding to do or not to do was not to be done now, and the cost to do it later will expand. The yeast of time is a predictable formula for more dough$$, and in this case, more doo-doo, too.

SLO Sludge In The News!

Read the latest here:

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/local/article54067830.html

Broadwater Sludge Message For BOS Tuesday

SPECIAL ACTION REQUEST FROM THE CENTER FOR SLUDGE INFORMATION

On Dec. 15, we convinced the BofS to consider whether to move forward with an EIR on a dangerous and deficient draft ordinance allowing sewage sludge land application, or to stop that process to examine methods of sewage sludge management other than spreading it on farm lands, e.g., converting it into a renewable and sustainable energy source. They will do so in the morning of Jan. 12, and your help is urgently needed to push the BofS in the right direction.  I know time is short, so whatever you're able to do will be greatly appreciated. Our advocacy for a cessation of the CEQA/EIR processing this draft ordinance is based on two fundamental facts: 1.  The County has never conducted an investigation into available methods of sewage sludge management other than land application, &  2.  The proposed draft ordinance is so non-compliant with BofS directions that it fails to qualify for an estimated $200,000 CEQA/EIR review. ACTION REQUEST: EMAIL BofS NOW - Stop CEQA/EIR on Ordinance Send an email to the BofS advocating: 1.  a stop to the CEQA/EIR process on the proposed draft sewage sludge land application ordinance, and 2.  a comprehensive evaluation of feasible sewage sludge management technologies other than land application prior to any CEQA review of a land application ordinance, or 3.  a stop to the CEQA/EIR process on the proposed draft ordinance until one conforming with BofS directions is drafted. Be sure to include the Board Clerk for the record. Emails:  fmecham@co.slo.ca.us, bgibson@co.slo.ca.us, ahill@co.slo.ca.us, lcompton@co.slo.ca.us, darnold@co.slo.ca.us, cr_board_clerk@co.slo.ca.us David Broadwater Center for Sludge Information csi@thegrid.net

I got this posting off of an E-mail list I am on, so decided to pass it on for anyone interested.

H2O From Sludge!

How desperate are we for water? We (finally) have the Basin Plan, the ISJ is (finally) over after 11 years, we have the sewer plant coming online starting in 2016, AND, we are doing a good job conserving water (well, not to the satisfaction of some, more on that in a later post). We are not importing water and we are not seriously thinking about de-sal, either. Some of us are saving water in barrels and various water catchment devices too, and are contemplating septic tank re-use. Is this enough?

We have been impacted in so many ways since the drought began. Sure, today it rained but I don't think too many of us are fooled that this winter, even if it rains a lot, will solve our problems. I don't know how much our current wastewater project squeezes out of the sludge before it is trucked away, but here is an innovative new treatment that will work for small amounts of sludge as opposed to the processes that need mountains of the stuff to be cost efffective. Take a look:

http://www.wateronline.com/doc/biomimetic-filters-recover-clean-water-from-sludge-0001


And just for fun, take a look at the benefits of water working the OTHER way, in a much different setting (I just found this and had to share!):

Broadwater On Sludge

I attended the Water Resources Advisory Committee meeting last Wednesday and the first speaker at public comment was David Broadwater. He had a handout on sewage sludge (see below - wish I could give you a single pdf - but those aren't uploadable on blogger.com. Click each picture for a larger size). He has spoken and written on the topic for many years which you can see if you google "Broadwater" and "sewage sludge." 

We do not need to worry in Los Osos on what is to become of our biosolids; they will be trucked far, far away as there is no safe place to put them here however non-industrial the composition. Below is a link to an interesting paper on this topic.

https://conservancy.umn.edu/bitstream/handle/11299/59468/5.3.Schaefer.pdf?sequence=1

The Softer Side of Sludge

Here is a very different take than SLO County's on sewer sludge at The Aichi Prefectural Toyo River Sanitation Center and other places in Japan:

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/features/news/20140505p2a00m0na002000c.html

The article states:

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) set up a strategy team for such "sewer assets" last summer, and this April, a public relations campaign was spearheaded with the publication of the first-ever cookbook using recipes of food grown from this method.

Semi-Sewer Related BOS Item Tuesday!

Read what is on Tuesday's Supe's agenda for enlightenment on SLO County bio-solids/sewage-sludge issue!

CONSENT AGENDA – REVIEW AND APPROVAL

Items Set for Hearing:

2. Introduction of an ordinance to continue the provisions and restrictions that were in place in the Land Application of Treated Sewage Sludge/Biosolids interim ordinance for a period of four years. Hearing date set for May 6, 2014. All Districts.

http://agenda.slocounty.ca.gov/agenda/sanluisobispo/Proposal.html?select=3217

This item is meant notice a hearing to re-up an expired interim ordinance until a permanent ordinance can be crafted by or before March 2018 and includes the need for:

•  Notification of the Public Health Department, Environmental Health Services Division 30 days prior to the land application of biosolids exceeding or equaling 5 cubic yards.

• Places a cap of 1,500 cubic yards on the cumulative total of exceptional quality biosolids that can be land applied in any 12-month period beginning with the adoption of this ordinance.

We will most likely be trucking the Los Osos' sewage sludge to Santa Maria when our plant is up and running and producing this stuff.