Sonoma Compost to shut down

Sonoma County’s largest compost operation is set to shut down this fall after settlement of a Clean Water Act lawsuit brought by residents of a nearby subdivision.|

Sonoma County’s largest compost operation is set to shut down this fall after settlement of a Clean Water Act lawsuit brought by residents of a nearby subdivision.

Sonoma Compost, the private operator which has run the county’s green waste program at the Central Landfill for more than 20 years, must fully vacate the site by Oct. 15, according to terms of the settlement. All composting at the site is required to end by Aug. 15.

The county’s curbside green waste will now be hauled elsewhere for processing, which is expected to increase ratepayer fees between $1 and $2 per month.

“We at Sonoma Compost are extremely disappointed and frustrated at the decision to close the compost program that we have operated for the past 23 years,” said Alan Seigel, company co-founder, in an email. He thanked customers for their support, and called the hauling of compost outside of the county “an environmental and economic abomination.”

Petaluma ratepayers are expected to avoid that price bump. The Petaluma City Council last September voted to have green waste hauled to the Redwood Landfill in northern Marin County, partially out of concern for looming cost increases. The city has also had its garbage hauled to the site since 2005.

The closure will still impact Petaluma’s agricultural producers and household gardeners who do business with Sonoma Compost directly.

Filed in August of last year, the lawsuit by residents of the Happy Acres subdivision alleged that water running off the open-air piles at the site was illegally polluting the nearby Stemple Creek.

The suit named Sonoma County, which owns the land including the compost operation, the Sonoma County Waste Management Agency, a joint-powers authority that oversees the operation, and Sonoma Compost.

The facility also faced separate requirements by regional water quality regulators to stop runoff, which still occurred despite a two-million-gallon capacity pond built last year to catch water flowing through the facility. Plans to build a larger pond were put on hold after allegations that construction would damage endangered species habitat at the site.

In an announcement of the settlement last Thursday, the waste agency said it ultimately felt a shutdown and out-haul approach would have a smaller impact on ratepayers than the ongoing legal battle.

The board of the waste agency is expected in June to vote on a location for construction of a new compost facility elsewhere.

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