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"Sludge could go south"-IVPRESS-Darren Simon 05/17/2007 |
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Written by truth
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Thursday, 17 May 2007 |
If Liberty 20 doesn’t come to fruition in the Niland area, perhaps Liberty 25 will in Mexicali.
That’s the word from Liberty Energy, the Bakersfield company proposing to build a sludge-to-energy plant near Niland.
Liberty 20 is the name of the proposed plant that would be built four miles north of Niland. That facility would generate 15 megawatts of energy from biomass — including human waste — trucked in from Los Angeles and other urban areas.
Liberty 25 is the name of a plant that would move forward if Liberty 20 fails. It would be built across the border in Mexicali, said Wilson Nolan, president of Liberty Energy.
If Liberty 20 is built, there would be no need to build a facility in Mexicali, Nolan said.
A plant built across the border would mean as many as 100 trucks carrying sludge would pass through Imperial County daily, likely along Highway 111, Nolan said, en route to the Calexico East Port of Entry.
“It’s not meant to intimidate or discourage the process with Liberty 20,” Nolan said. “It’s just the reality of business.”
IF LIBERTY 20 FAILS
Nolan’s comments came Wednesday in response to questions as to what Liberty Energy’s plans would be if its proposed Niland project fails.
Imperial County Supervisor Gary Wyatt, who has voiced support for the Liberty 20 project, said it should come as no surprise that Liberty Energy would look to Mexicali.
“It’s a smack in the face of reality,” Wyatt said.
He said it makes more sense to have the sludge-to-energy plant built in Imperial County rather than allowing the project to go to Mexicali.
“We still will have the implications but none of the benefit — no jobs, no property tax, no mitigation, no control,” Wyatt said. “These things should be built on our side of the border so we can control them.”
Rosie Nava, who has been a leading voice in an organized campaign against Liberty Energy’s proposed Niland plant, said county officials should be responsive to their constituents.
She said if county officials are going to decide the fate of the Liberty Energy project based on money issues, then “there is more corruption in the county than I thought.”
Nava said she, too, is not surprised Liberty would consider building across the border.
“What they are proposing is consistent with the level of environmental racism they are engaging in,” she said, alleging the company targets communities with Hispanic populations.
She said just as her organization has fought against the proposed Niland facility, it will fight against any project in Mexicali.
But, she said that new fight would become a bi-national effort. She said her group would partner and educate their counterparts across the border on the Liberty issue.
CONTROVERSIAL HISTORY
Liberty Energy’s history in the Valley has been filled with controversy as opposition to the project has gone from more random picketing to a much more organized effort to block the project.
Liberty 20 represents the company’s third effort to open a sludge-to-energy plant in the Valley.
The first effort failed in 2003 when the county Planning Commission said no to the project, which at that time was proposed to be placed at an abandoned wood-burning plant on Dogwood Road.
The second effort, Liberty 10, failed when the company stopped its effort to obtain a permit in the wake of opposition. That plant was to be located in the central part of the county between Brawley and Imperial.
With Liberty 20, the company has proposed to build a plant near Niland, and while opposition to the project has been strong, this latest project has moved forward with more support than the earlier projects among some county supervisors.
Along with taking waste from outside Imperial County, the facility also would process waste produced inside the county, including manure from local cattle ranches.
“I’d say we are cautiously optimistic,” Nolan said about the future of Liberty 20. “We see a great deal of support for the project. We also see the opposition spending vast sums of money to oppose the project.”
Nolan said the company has to look at alternatives.
There is another project planned for Banning, Liberty 23, which will move forward, he said, regardless of what happens with Liberty 20.
Then there is Liberty 25, the Mexicali proposal.
“It’s insurance should Liberty 20 fail,” he said.
>> Staff Writer Darren Simon can be contacted at
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or at 337-3445.
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Last Updated ( Thursday, 17 May 2007 )
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