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Is Newberry Springs Being Poisoned?
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Problem is national as nearly 300 facilities produce compost.
New piles of Nursery Product's sewage sludge are being dumped in Newberry Springs.
Posted: July 14, 2014
In a March 10, 2013 story, the Community Alliance's Blotter
reported
on human waste and other sewer materials being dumped in Newberry Springs as processed compost.
In that story, Eric Archibek defended his importation
of processed sewer waste material being dumped in Newberry Springs so that he
could spread it upon an adjacent field as compost for farming. As pointed
out in the story, the field has been fallow for years and has no workable
irrigation system.
Archibek publicly spoke at the Newberry Community
Service District building claiming that he was going to be spreading the
dumped material onto the adjacent field as fertilizer. Some skeptical
attendees in the audience wondered whether he was simply caught dumping the
waste material in Newberry Springs to accomodate Nursery Products, a compost
recycling facility in Hinkley, California, that must move vast amounts of
processed waste material before new incoming truckloads can be accepted.
The skepticism on Archibek is based upon a pattern of him previously
having dumped processed sewage from Nursey Products upon fallow farmland many years ago where
the piles still remain today.
It is reported that Eric Archibek, upset over the public
outcry of his action, physically assaulted and manhandled a CSD director at the
Newberry Springs Post Office in March 2013. No police charges were filed
on Archibek.
On April 17, 2013, the Blotter
reported
on Brandan A. Archibek, the son of Eric Archibek, making threats at the March 2013 Community
Service District's General Board Meeting where Brandan Archibek spoke defending the
name of his father and family.
Brandan Archibek's speech before the CSD Board was immature and
humorous as the remedies that he threatened to carry out were clearly not proper legal
remedies for addressing the matter of his concern.
After the Archibeks defended themselves as righteous, it was learned
that Eric Archibek does not own the land where he had the waste material dumped near Fremont Road
and Bedford Drive; nor did he have permission from the landowner for dumping the hundred-plus
piles of processed waste. To the date of this publication, over 16-months after
the so called compost was dumped, the piles still remain unspread, occupying the property
of a west Los Angeles county absentee landowner without permission who reportedly wants
Eric Archibek to remove the illegally dumped material.
The history of Nursery Products and its operation appears to be
unscrupulous to many people. The business, whether deserving or not, has developed
a fundamental lack of public trust and a reputation that the ownership's principle interest
is profit and not public safety.
Sludge material, from the sources that Nursery Products acquires it's
sewage material from, can often be contaminated with non-green materials. The rigorous
and constant testing necessary to guarantee safety of the end product is too costly.
Therefore, Nursery Product's 'compost' can involve many truckloads with heavy metals, pesticides,
pathogen problems and other serious contaminates that can damage the safety of farm soil and
the end consumer. To guarantee safety, each load would need to be thoroughly tested.
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Sewer sludge contaminates go deep into soil:
The danger of sewer compost.
Farmers may one day be held responsible for environmental clean-up.
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Not surprising, Nursery Products is not a member of the voluntary
US Composting Council in which its members participate in a program for safer product management
practices. The safety of compost materials can vary significantly from one truckload
to another; consequently, many farmers will not risk contaminating and poisoning their fields
with sewage processed sludge, a risky compost material. The type of
material that Nursery Products uses.
Even safer green waste compost, that consists of grass and tree
clippings from separate urban collections, can contain dangerous toxins; but are less
likely to contain the problems associated with sewage sludge that Nursery Products has
built its business upon from sewage treatment plants.
Trucks dump processed sewage sludge waste and other matter from Nursery Products upon
farmland controlled by Robert Kasner adjacent Fairview Road on July 3, 2014. Growing
scientific evidence shows heavy metals and other contaminents can impact the soil, the crops
grown, and the underlying water supply.
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The latest dumpings of Nursery Products compost includes the
fallow crop circle controlled by Robert Ray Kasner at the northwest corner of Newberry Road
and Fairview Road. The dumpings are located just off of Fairview. When the top
photograph was taken from Fairview Road, a very strong odor was present. This can be
indicative of high temperatures within the compost that is still "cooking" the waste sludge as
aerobic bacteria works the yet to be completed compost curing. This can be a possible
sign that the sewage sludge was not adequately turned and properly processed before being
released from the processing facility.
As there are very few landfills that will accept sewage sludge
due to its horrific contents, the sewage treatment industry has had to develop a means
of disposal; and as most landfills are not an option, why not promote it as a biosolid
fertilizer and spread it on farms and gardens. Ka-ching $$$.
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Partial list of contents found in sludge:
Hazardous contents of sewage sludge.
With tightening regulations, farmers may eventually pay for cleanup.
Hopefully, most items on this list will be on the clean-up list.
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A number of Newberry Springs farms, big and small alfalfa
and pistachio growers, have spread Nursery Products' processed sludge upon their
fields. This has allowed the grown crops to possibly absorb and transport to humans
and livestock possible toxins and carcinogens. This can label Silver Valley
farmers as users of sewage sludge; and by association, negatively impact farmers
who are non-users.
On Friday, July 11, 2014, an inspector from the county Department
of Environmental Health Services inspected the Fairview site. Several people representing
various interests were reportedly present. It is not believed that any samples were
taken for testing during this initial inspection.
Once waste sludge is classified as compost by a waste sludge processor
and shipped, there is little current regulation on the material as the outdated law (in most cases)
considers it a safe fertilizer. The county is planning to possibly upgrade its regulations
on the definition and dispensing of processed sewage sludge.
New regulations should require a record permanently filed
with the county of where, when, quantity, and who is dumping and spreading truckloads
of the matter so that at a later time it will be easier to locate the hotspots and trace
the contamination of residential wells. Those willfully spreading the processed waste
should be held accountable should later damages to the crops' endusers' health or environment
be proven. Enough science is available today serving us notice of the hazards.
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