Cold Creek Compost, Inc. (CCCI) is a mixed solid waste composting facility, located on a 10+ acre site with a 6+ acre composting pad, atop a ridge on the Guntly Ranch, east of the intersection of State Highway 20 and East Side Potter Valley Road. CCCI imports feedstock from five counties. They have been composting on that site since 1994, and have a history of violations, misrepresentations, operating without a permit and operating in violation of their permit. They operate in any way that they deem convenient and profitable and worry about regulations, mitigations and other requirements if and when they get caught. They have been favored and protected by the past and present Boards of Supervisors and have never received more than a scolding for their many violations. [Ed. Note: For a complete history, see the Newsletter archives on the MEC website.]
In their Draft Environmental Impact Report comments on May 26, 1997, speaking for the MEC, Betty and Gary Ball stated, "Our level of trust in CCCI is low and we are skeptical about the environmental soundness and safety of this compost facility, even with mitigations." This statement stands today.
The Board of Supervisors approved the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and CCCI's use permit (#U 26-93) on May 11, 1998, despite the company's numerous violations and questionable "Best Management Practices." The Department of Planning and Building Services was directed to provide the Board with a Report of Compliance with the conditions of CCCI's use permit within one year of the date of approval. On May 10, 1999, without any public notice, the Report of Compliance was received by the Board. The report stated that, "Required monitoring at specified times and stations has not been complied with. The Storm Water Report for 1997-1998, due by July 1, 1998 was not submitted. A hand-dug ditch, which diverted the majority of runoff around the approved sampling station to a different drainage, was observed."
Condition 3.2.1 a, requiring material to be stored under the roof or tarped in wet weather, was not complied with. Inspection report documents were in non-compliance with state law regulating the recording of load checks and record-keeping. The ability of the EIR to mitigate project impacts depends on CCCI's compliance with permit conditions. Yet the Board of Supervisors ignored these violations and unanimously voted to accept the Report of Compliance.
In the two years since the Report of Compliance was accepted, CCCI has continued to be violation of their use permit for improper record-keeping, leachate leaving the pad, active pathogen composting done outside the roofed area, feedstocks and compost being untarped during periods of wet weather, and livestock entering compost area. Some of these permit violations should have triggered a revocation of their use permit.
During the weekend of February 23-26, 2001, CCCI had a spill of approximately 3,000 gallons of leachate. According to North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board (NCRWQCB), the spill "...was the direct result of a failure to properly manage the collection system." This was due to an employee's failure to reconnect the drain system on Friday, February 23. The spill was not detected until the following Monday, February 26, when owner/operator Martin Mileck found the leak and instructed his employee to reconnect the system. On Tuesday the 27th, Mileck discovered that the drain system had not been checked following reconnection on Monday and leachate was leaking from another point in the system. The overflow caused several areas of dead grass in the immediate vicinity and to a distance of 300 feet from the edge of the pad where it discharged over the hill and into a large drainage draw. CCCI neglected to report this spill to NCRWQCB, who discovered the results of the spill during a routine inspection.
CCCI receives a tip fee of $15 a ton for the feedstocks they import. They seem to be more of a dump than a compost facility, and are now accepting domestic animal feces and cat litter (which they call animal manure), cheese processing liquid, and high pH lime cake waste from the Louisiana Pacific paper mill in Samoa. They are taking the county's wood waste stream, including plywood, particleboard, painted wood, and construction debris, including Sheetrock with attached 2x4s, which they grind up as "green waste." It is up to the operator to take the necessary steps to ensure that finished compost does not exceed established acceptable heavy metal concentrations. There are no protections to regulate the buildup of heavy metals and contaminants in soils that regularly receive compost blended with this wood waste.
CCCI is now seeking modifications to their use permit. To date the process for initiating the application has taken over fifteen months. They are asking for exceptions to the mitigations that were established by the EIR. They want to process and store compost outside the roofed area during the rainy season, and to be allowed longer hours of operation, more noise and less cleaning of the compost pad. They have requested a "pond exemption." They want to add sewage sludge (which includes human manure), fishery wastes, restaurant wastes and street sweepings as feedstocks. They have had three verified odor complaints this year. Can you imagine the additional smell from sewage sludge, fishery wastes, and meat? The "off-site vectors" (neighbors) will have no recourse for complaints because state law has removed odor issues at compost facilities from the jurisdiction of air quality agencies.
The MEC opposes all of CCCI's requested exceptions to environmental mitigations, as well as additions of feedstocks. Why should we trust this unreliable company with fewer restrictions and even more toxic feedstocks? They have been violating their county use permit for the past seven years. They have many excuses for their violations. The point is the county gave them rules to follow and they are not following them. Why should we trust the judgment of the Board of Supervisors that allows this business to continue to operate outside the parameters they approved?
Copyright Mendocino Environmental Center 2001
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