By Will Oremus
San Jose Mercury News (California)
PALO ALTO, Calif. — An already-hot debate about the future of Palo Alto’s municipal compost heap could be stoked by reports of fire safety violations there.
On July 16, a week before the green waste operation in the Palo Alto Baylands caught fire, the state agency that inspects the facility found that the heap was taller than the 12-foot limit recommended to keep it from overheating.
“The temperature in some older sections of the pile exceeded 180 Fahrenheit and there was evidence of smoldering within the pile,” wrote inspectors from the California Integrated Waste Management Board.
A follow-up report on the day after the fire, whose precise cause was never identified, noted there was no water truck on site to fight fires and no employees were on hand as the day’s last deliveries were being made.
On Dec. 15, the city council will be asked to decide the compost operation’s future. Several officials have said they want to learn more about the fire safety issue before weighing in.
The question was already a source of contention in the city, pitting one faction of environmentalists against another.
The 7.5-acre green waste facility is part of the city’s 126-acre landfill, which is scheduled to close in 2011 and become part of Byxbee Park. After that, the city’s trash is to be hauled to a regional facility in Sunnyvale, while green waste such as grass clippings and tree trimmings would make an additional journey to a compost heap in Gilroy.
But as the city has looked to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, the idea of closing a local compost pile and shipping waste 53 miles away has become increasingly divisive. City staff estimates the move would add 1,100 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions per year. That would be a big obstacle to the city’s goal of reducing its total emissions by 3,266 metric tons by 2009.
On the other hand, keeping the compost pile would mean losing hard-won open space in the Baylands. Park supporters, including former council member Emily Renzel, say the operation’s noise, dust and smell would compromise the park as a whole. Fire danger will now take a more prominent place on the list of impacts, as well.
It would take a public vote to un-dedicate the park land.
In September, the city’s planning and transportation commission voted unanimously to keep composting out of the Baylands. Instead, it recommended looking for another composting site in the area.
City staff has suggested that the council form a task force to figure out how to keep the city’s green waste local. That would require extending the landfill’s operation to late 2012, requiring new permits and, potentially, a vote to modify the Baylands Master Plan.
An alternative is to look for other local alternatives in the long term, but close the dump and green waste facility on schedule.
A third option is to ship the green waste out of town as originally planned.
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