Don’t Make Her Bust Out That Bustier 4

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1. 

   edarnold41 Posted 5:06 am
   02 Mar 2007

   Saving the Planet: NIMBYI looked up Hinckley: about 100 mile NE of Los Angeles, in the middle of noplace. It's most attractive feature is the railroad line running through it, pretty much necessary to move 8,000,000,000 pounds a year of treated bio-waste from the cities to the composting plant. One assumes that after processing, the railroad will be delivering some tens of thousands of tons of natural fertilizer to restore farmland near and far.
   
   Unless I missed something, the alternatives to processing all this poo into fertilizer is to burn it (yummy warmer weather anyone?), bury it (there goes the groundwater), or dump it in the ocean (probably where it's going right now).
   
   The obstacle to building and operating this plant is its proximity to the unfortunate citizens of (already polluted) Hinckley.
   
   Here's a thought: insteading of David Geffen pimping campaign funds for the Clintons and Obama among the fabulously wealthy in Hollywood, he passes the hat on behalf of some people who actually need a hand, and uses the proceeds to buy them out and move them someplace that isn't polluted. They get to have a better place to live (call it New Hinckley?), California gets to do something productive and environmentally beneficial with some of its waste, and the fabulously wealthy get to feel good about saving the planet.
   
   And the only losers are those who reflexively oppose anything proposed by Big Business, because it must be evil...

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2. 

   Remediators Posted 5:55 am
   02 Mar 2007

   Social PrioritiesThe ultimate question here is "are the fears of the community of Hinckly well founded?" While initial reactions to the subject of human wastes and "sludge" may conjure unpleasant mental images, one should keep in mind that treated sludge is not the same as raw sewage. The fear of odors and/or bacteria wafting 8 miles away are probably not founded in reality. Additionally, rapid decomposition of treated sludge can be achieved odorlessly and efficiently by a simple prescription of pH and beneficial microbial activity. The planet has evolved many elegant ways to recycle materials back into beneficial and healthy soil, and sewage sludge is a part of that cycle. Finding environmenally beneficial uses for our own waste streams should be a social priority.

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3. 

   geosynchronous Posted 8:21 am
   02 Mar 2007

   Does sound like NIMBYIt's not clear to me that anybody has identified anything threatening about this plant.  In general, this kind of waste disposal is quite positive, yielding a useful compost, and using a process that is significantly better than other options in terms of its climate change impact.  As to why it's proposed out in the middle of nowhere... probably because the land is cheap enough to build a sprawling industrial facility on.  It sounds to me like somebody's trying to make a story here where there isn't one.

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4. 

   eutopianow Posted 6:31 am
   24 Jun 2007

   CompostThey may be confusing this with odor issues arising from the thermal depolymerization process.
   As for dust?  Compost stays pretty moist most of the time, I think.
   For more on therm depo, see under Waste here:
   http://www.xyvy.info/EutopiaFeb07.html

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