Nursery Products is an environmental recycling company that makes compost. This compost helps farmers because it saves water and stimulates plant growth. Nursery Products takes green material (tree trimmings, saw dust, etc.) and combines it with biosolids to produce high-quality compost that reduces the need for chemical fertilizers.

 

Biosolids are nutrient-rich materials resulting from the treatment of domestic sewage in a treatment facility. After being treated and processed at the waste water treatment plants, residual "biosolids" can be recycled and applied as fertilizer to improve and maintain productive soils, reduce water consumption and stimulate plant growth.

It is important to understand that biosolids are not "raw sewage" or "sewer sludge" as some may imply. Rather, they are extensively processed before composting commences.

 

ntil the early 90"s, most biosolids from coastal and near inland cities were dumped, untreated into the ocean. Now, the law requires wastewater to be treated and biosolids must be incinerated, buried in a landfill, or recycled.

 

Most states allow individuals to use septic systems in rural areas. Individual homeowners can treat and dispose of their sewage under their property. The septic system allows water with high nitrates to percolate directly to the groundwater. Biosolids composting releases nothing to the environment. The potential for adverse groundwater impacts from too many septic tanks is far greater than a biosolids composting facility.

 

Recycling biosolids into compost preserves a valuable resource and is a far better use of the material than having it take up space in scarce landfills. Today, in excess of 50% of all biosolids are being recycled nationwide.

It simply doesn’t make sense to bury good soil nutrients and organic matter that are badly needed by area farmers.  Burying biosolids in a landfill will also produce greenhouse gases for years.

 

Not at all. Farmers and gardeners have been recycling biosolids through composting for decades. In fact, farmers actually prefer biosolid compost because they have discovered that it actually provides a better yield for their crops than manure. Compost promotes the growth of agriculture crops, gardens, trees, etc. while saving water. Biosolid recycling takes place in all 50 states and the District of Columbia where compost from biosolids has been used on the White House and Mount Vernon lawns and gardens.

 

Yes. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with help from scientists from universities and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, studied biosolids for more than 23 years, then developed stringent regulations that would protect human health as well as the environment. Further, EPA is mandated by law to conduct a bi-annual review of biosolids to ensure it is using the best science available in maintaining and improving its stringent regulations.

In an independent study, the prestigious National Academy of Sciences made up of world-renown scientific experts, closely reviewed the issue and concluded that, "the use of these materials in the production of crops for human consumption when practiced in accordance with existing federal guidelines and regulations, presents negligible risk to the consumer, to crop production and to the environment." This conclusion is supported by numerous other independent research bodies and governmental agencies including the California State Water Resources Control Board and the EPA.

 

Biosolid recycling is regulated by many agencies including

• The United States Environmental Protection Agency
• The County of San Bernardino
• California Integrated Waste Management Board
• The Lahontan Regional Water Quality Control Board (LRWQCB)
• Mojave Desert Air Quality Management District (MDAQMD)

Typically biosolids have a slight musty, ammonia odor, not unlike the smell of compost you might buy at a gardening center. The odor is caused by compounds containing sulfur and ammonia, both of which are plant nutrients. Proper maintenance of the composting process helps reduce the odor.

 

A very rigorous environmental review process must occur before Nursery Products could begin to operate. A Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) was prepared by an outside independent consultant. Any interested party had an opportunity to comment on the document. All comments are then responded to and a public hearing is held on the Environmental Impact Report. Once the EIR is considered final, it can be used by the decision making agencies to evaluate the project. If any agency does not approve of the project, the project must be redesigned to meet the agency requirements.  Each regulatory agency has their own rigorous review process for every project.

 

Nursery Products" recycling facility will be located in an isolated location twelve miles east of Kramer Junction, eight miles west of Hinkley and twenty-two miles west of Barstow.

 

Biosolid recycling centers are currently in virtually every state in the nation. They operate in such major urban areas as Los Angeles, New York, Denver, Salt Lake City, Boston, Seattle, Austin, Washington, D.C. and Philadelphia. Some have been operating successfully for more than 80 years. In fact, an outdoor open air compost facility is in operation today in Kern County that is twice the size of the proposed Nursery Products site and closer to the local community.

 

Construction will commence in September 2010.