[USCC] Judge to OK sludge transfer in Kern County, CA

[McNelly, Patrick]

________________________________

http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-sludge14nov14,1,4341497.story?co
ll=la-headlines-california


Judge to OK sludge transfer


Kern County vows to continue its fight to stop the dumping of tons of
sewage from Los Angeles on farmland near Bakersfield.

By Stuart Silverstein
Times Staff Writer

November 14, 2006

Los Angeles appeared to win a round Monday in its legal battle to keep
dumping 250,000 tons of sewage sludge every year on farmland near
Bakersfield.

U.S. District Judge Gary Feess said he planned to issue a written ruling
within a few days granting a preliminary injunction in favor of the city
and its co-plaintiffs, including the sanitation districts for Los
Angeles and Orange counties.

The judge's comments came in a case brought by the city of Los Angeles
challenging a ban overwhelmingly approved in June by Kern County voters
that would halt the dumping. The law, known as Measure E, was spurred by
concerns that the processed human waste could contaminate underground
water reserves, damaging agriculture and leading to serious public
health problems.

But Feess, tentatively siding with an argument of the plaintiffs, said
it is likely that Measure E conflicts with a state law intended to
reduce the amount of waste dumped into landfills. Fees said he also
would refer the issue to the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals for
further review, and that it was likely to wind up in the hands of the
California Supreme Court.

Christopher M. Westhoff, a Los Angeles city attorney handling the case,
said he was pleased with the tentative ruling and saw little chance the
judge would change his mind. Under state law, he said, "We're compelled
to reduce and recycle our solid waste." He said the city is
accomplishing that by applying the waste as fertilizer on the 4,200-acre
Green Acres Farm owned by the city in Kern County.

But Bernard C. Barmann Sr., county counsel for Kern County, said he held
out hope that Feess might reverse his stance and, if not, that the
county would prevail on appeal. "I don't think it's a setback at all.
It's simply the court reviewing the initiative ordinance," he said.

Barmann said the dispute revolves around whether the county has a right
to protect its underground water and "the economic future of this
valley. Or can we just be run over by a bunch of urbanites who already
have ruined their environment?" 

Feess' tentative ruling has no immediate effect on dumping in Kern
County because Measure E would not take effect until 2007. But Westhoff
said a ruling against Los Angeles would leave it with too little time to
find another site for the waste.

*

________________________________

stuart.silverstein at latimes.com