[USCC] Court Overturns Kern County Ban Marking Major Victory in Biosolids Case

[McNelly, Patrick]

August 17, 2007
 

Court Overturns Kern County Ban Marking Major Victory in Biosolids Case
A federal court in California late last week issued a final judgment
sought by the City of Los Angeles and several Southern California
agencies that overturned Kern County's ban on biosolids and will allow
their continued application on farmland. 

The court's Aug. 10 ruling makes permanent a November 2006 preliminary
injunction that prevented the enforcement of the biosolids ban, which
was approved by Kern County voters in June 2006. The ban would have
halted all land application of biosolids in the county and would have
significantly impacted the City of Los Angeles, which applies its
biosolids on a 5,000-acre farm it owns in Kern County. 

The decision is available at:

http://www.nacwa.org/index.php?option=com_vfm&Itemid=404&do=download&fil
e=2007-08-10kern.pdf
 

In its ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of
California explained that the proposed ban "demonstrated irreparable
harm" because it violated the U.S. Constitution by unfairly
discriminating against biosolids from metropolitan Los Angeles and other
areas of Southern California. The court endorsed the land application of
biosolids, ruling that it "constitutes a 'beneficial use' of biosolids,"
and noted that EPA adopted the term "biosolids" in order to emphasize
"the beneficial nature of this valuable, recyclable resource." 

The court also noted that "government agencies cannot decide to stop
producing biosolids and instead must find ways to manage those that are
produced," emphasizing that land application is an important and
environmentally safe way to recycle biosolids. 

The decision marks a major victory for the land application of biosolids
and is a strong ruling that will help clean water agencies involved in
land application not only in California but in other parts of the nation
as well. NACWA supported efforts to overturn the ban and believes the
court's decision constitutes a significant victory for the land
application of biosolids.