LA vs. Kern: Sludge Fight Still Slogging Through Courts

Sludge from Southern California is still being trucked to Kern County, and Los Angeles city officials say they plan to fight to continue spreading it here.

March 4, 2011 | Source: Bakers Field Now | by Carol Ferguson

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Sludge from Southern California is still being trucked to Kern County, and Los Angeles city officials say they plan to fight to continue spreading it here.

After years of legal battles and a voter-approved ban, local residents worry about the smelly goo that is still coming here by the ton.

Charles Blackwood drives north on Interstate 5 every morning, and he’s spotted the trucks hauling biosolids up from the Los Angeles area. He followed three of the big rigs Thursday morning and was so outraged that he took video.

Blackwood said the trucks were smelly, and brown material was flying out the top.

“I’m worried about ground water,” Blackwood told Eyewitness News. “And (Lake) Buena Vista is over here, kids play there.”

Sludge is the biosolids left when sewage is treated. Cities need some place to dispose of this waste.

The sludge ends up trucked west on Highway 119 just west of I-5 to a large property called Green Acres owned by the city of Los Angeles, where the sludge is spread on the soil.