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Waste-to-Energy Site Proposed

Posted on: Tuesday, 19 July 2005, 00:00 CDT

Jul. 17--A proposed sludge recycling plant would process treated human waste solids from four counties.

Fuel pellets created at the plant could be burned at adjacent wastewater treatment plant to generate electricity.

A proposed energy park that Rialto officials believe could revolutionize the way communities process sewage is taking shape at the city's wastewater treatment plant.

If plans go through, solid waste generated at the plant would be converted to fuel pellets that would be burned to generate electricity, said Bill Hunt, a consultant working with the city on the project.

Hunt said the planned facility is believed to be the first in the country to turn solid sludge into electrical energy.

"It's huge. It's the ultimate renewable energy project," Hunt said. "If it does work out as envisioned, it will be the kind of project that's repeated all over the country."

For the past three years, the city has been working with Atlanta-based Enertech Environmental Inc. toward building a sewage-sludge processing plant. It would be constructed on land leased from the city next to the wastewater plant near the Rialto-Colton border.

The process involves dehydrating sludge, also called biosolids, into pelletlike fuel for use at nearby industrial sites.

The city simultaneously has been negotiating a proposal by Chevron Energy Solutions to upgrade and expand Rialto's wastewater treatment plant. Chevron has proposed to build an on-site electrical generator powered by methane gas produced by sludge digesters, according to a city staff report.

The City Council recently approved an agreement with Chevron to study the feasibility of burning fuel that would be produced at the adjacent Enertech facility.

The solid fuel has the potential to generate seven times the amount of energy produced by digester gas alone, Public Works Director Robert Harary said.

The facilities would be built at no cost to the city or residents, Harary said. Money saved on energy costs would be used to expand and upgrade the treatment plant, he said.

It is also possible that excess electricity could be sold to neighboring businesses at rates lower than Edison's, according to the staff report.

"Both projects are independently self-sufficient. Combine them together and you can really make hay," Hunt said. "This is not a rich city. (Rialto) needs to be creative in how it finances improvements in its wastewater plant."

The city also will save the $400,000 a year it spends to dispose of sludge, he said.

However, other Inland area sludge processing and composting facilities have drawn complaints from residents about foul odors they say are generated by the facilities.

Several years ago, Colton resident David Face led a petition drive to fight a proposed sludge-recycling plant that would have been just a short distance from the planned Enertech plant. He said he still recalls the stench that emanated from a green waste plant near his La Loma Hills neighborhood. The plant closed in 2002.

"Every community generates their own waste," he said. "I say, why should Colton and Rialto be the dumping grounds for something that's unpleasant."

The Synagro plant in Corona, which also has been the target of numerous complaints, will be closed in 2008 as part of a settlement with Riverside County.

Last week, residents of the High Desert community of Newberry Springs packed a San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors meeting to oppose a planned green waste and biosolids compost facility.

The proposed Enertech plant would take in about 125 tons of sludge daily from the surrounding area, as well as Orange, Riverside and Los Angeles Counties, officials said.

Hunt said the Enertech plant has addressed the odor issue. The facility is designed so that biosolids are not exposed to the air, and is in an isolated area that won't affect residents, he said. The project has gone through environmental review and public hearings without any objections, he said.

The biggest hurdle left for the city is determining what to do with a landfill for street-sweeping waste at the six-acre parcel where the Enertech plant would be, Harary said. The city is studying the impact of excavating the landfill and moving it to another location to make way for the energy park, he said.

The company has applying for permits needed to build the biosolids facility and construction could begin early next year, said Enertech President Kevin Bolin.

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Source: The Press-Enterprise

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