Category Archives: blog

Original content produced by this site.

Summary from July 18 South Bay Odor Stakeholders Group meeting

1. BAAQMD will award the contract for South Bay Odor Study at its July 31st board meeting. The study is projected to cost $300-500k. Reps from odor generating facilities were present and supportive of the study.

2. City of Milpitas has hired a consultant to implement odor monitors.

3. BAAQMD logged 162 odor complaints in the last 3 months. Newby Island was the sole confirmed odor source. BAAQMD has issued 16 violations to Newby Island in 2019 YTD.

4. LEA received many complaints on its website. Inspector detected Newby Island MRF and landfill odor. CalRecycle-LEA issued a violation to Newby Island for not covering the working landfill at night.

5. Newby Island MRF redesign is in progress with construction to be completed by 2021.

Official meeting minutes can be found on 
http://sbosg.info/archives/

Now killed AB 1975 ODOR TASKFORCE BILL KANSEN CHU

Republic Services and other facilities throughout California lobbied and killed AB 1975 (the odor taskforce bill).  Opposition worked it hard this year and got facilities throughout the state to send letters and call their assembly members. Not enough votes to get the bill off the Assembly floor. It is very disappointing that other state assemblymen would go against a harmless bill that merely mandates the participation of odor nuisance offenders in a local task force. Kansen Chu’s staff will continue working with the air districts and local enforcement agency to see if something else can be done outside of legislation in the meantime.

Newby Island Landfill Approved

Unfortunately, the San Jose planning commission on Dec 7th voted to approve the Newby Island Landfill expansion. The Garbage dump will be piled up to an unprecedented 245 feet and will remain open until 2041. They erroneously cited they need more Landfill capacity when they have plenty in the county. They also stated that they didn’t want to ship their Garbage to other communities and needed the expansion, but apparently it is okay to ship San Jose’s garbage to Milpitas and Monterey. They also argued that the extra height won’t contribute to more odor, use your common sense about that point, more garbage more odor.

City of San Jose has been hypocritical in its public policies.

On one hand, it issued Green Vision goal to divert 100% of waste out of landfills by 2022, and had used that goal to build over 12 new recycling and composting facilities. San Jose Mayor further endorsed Measure AA to raise $500 million to restore the bay from landfill and toxic pollution.

Newby Island’s Area Manager Mike Caprio told the planning commission that its existing permit has capacity through 2023-2025. This is not even including the 20+ years of excess landfill capacity at San Jose’s other landfills that have 0 violations.

Yet, the planning commission chose to expand Newby Island, completely disregarding 23 unresolved regulatory violations, its city municipal code and zero waste goal. No wonder City of San Jose is persistently ranked as one of the worst-run big cities in the country.

Thanks to the volunteers for all the efforts that went into last night’s San Jose Planning commission meeting on the Newby Island Landfill. Volunteers were preparing speeches, organizing for the bus ride/carpool. Special thanks to the brave folks who brave the rainy weather to speak on behalf of the community. Thanks Milpitas councilmembers Garry Barbadillo and Marsha Grilli and Milpitas Mayor Rich Tran for also showing up.

We had presented to San Jose at the start of the appeal process about how 44 landfills in San Francisco Bay had closed upon reaching capacity and converted to parks. None ever exceeded 150-160 feet height. But San Jose isn’t interested in superior alternatives.

Look at the stats:
San Francisco County has 0 landfills, Marin County has 0 landfills, San Mateo County has 1 landfill. Yet – San Jose city alone has 4 landfills.

The underlying problem is San Jose gets tax revenue per ton disposed at landfills, hence it chose to harbor more landfill capacity than it needs.

Again thanks to everyone who fought hard against the Newby Landfill expansion for the past 2 years and waiting out 10 deferrals.

You can watch a recording of the meeting when it gets posted here, look for “Dec 7th Planning commission meeting”,  http://sanjose.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=51&clip_id=9429 OR is prior link is broken try this link http://www.sanjoseca.gov/civiccentertv/.

CIWMP & Newby Island Landfill Expansion

Honorable Santa Clara County Recycling and Waste Reduction Commissioners, Division Staff and TAC members,

I am writing on behalf of Milpitas REACH, a grassroot movement advocating to stop Newby Island Landfill expansion for past 2 years. Over 23,000 have signed our “Stop Landfill Expansion” petition.

As you may already be aware, if the expansion is approved, Newby Island will rise to an unprecedented 245 feet above MSL, extending the life of what is already the largest landfill ever built along San Francisco Bay through 2041 in a densely populated and environmentally sensitive area with protected wildlife.

Due to recurring public nuisance and regulatory violations at the site including over 30 violations from 4 regulatory agencies in past 2 years, we feel strongly that the expansion project will be detrimental to the lives of 100,000 people who work and live in its immediate vicinity.

Unfortunately, City of San Jose Planning Staff issued a report last Friday and concluded that recurring violations are insignificant, even when 20 BAAQMD violations have not been formally resolved. The staff had recommended landfill expansion permit to be approved at the October 26 Planning Commission meeting, which I believe is irresponsible in light of open and recurring violations.

I am writing to seek your help with respect to your role in driving sustainable and responsible waste management plan for the region.

In the 4th Five-Year Review of the CIWMP, it is clearly stated that there is excess landfill capacity over what is required even without Newby Island expansion, as follows:

“Newby Island Landfill currently accepts about 60% of the County’s waste and has listed 5-7 years site life is currently undergoing a permit process for expansion. If the expansion goes through, then the site life will be extended to 20-25 years. If the expansion is denied, the calculation estimates splitting the material among the remaining two landfills within the County. The volume of material to each site would almost double their current volume which would decrease the site life by half. This reduction would be estimated at 20 some years which is greater than the 15 years for a Siting Element revision. ”

Since options are available, can you offer support by writing to San Jose Planning Staff and Commission to re-evaluate project alternatives, including tapping into regional landfill capacity and prioritizing waste diversion through non-disposal facilities, before urban landfills, such as Newby Island, are expanded any further?

Your assistance is much appreciated.

Regards
Milpitas REACH

Dear Editor Letter: Measure L introduces Big Money

Measure L introduces Big Money

Dear Editor,

Republic Services PAC money to fight against Measure L has now exceeded half a million dollars.  But despite of the big money pouring into their campaign more and more people are becoming aware of how Measure L actually does lower garbage rates with improved services.  Republic Services, also seeing this trend, in a single day in October, spent $93,000 on advertising and marketing.  A week after this, they spent $37,500 to put additional door knockers on the streets.  Initially, Republic Services had set aside $250,000.  At the time of this writing, the PAC dollars was at $600,000.

It is curious to note that while a billion-dollar company like Republic Services have deep enough pockets to fund their campaign, outside companies as far away as Stockton (Central Valley Construction) and Bakersfield (Guinn Construction) have decided to contribute to their cause.  Even former Milpitas City councilman Armando Gomez (now self-employed) decided to betray his roots and contributed $6,000 of his own money.  You can be sure that these token donations, that don’t even cover the costs of paying for surveys ($34,000), are intended to gain future business consideration.

As the election date draws near, we all are anxious to see if the outcome will be David overcoming Goliath or simply another example of corporate greed stomping on a helpless city to add another feather to their cap.

All information in this article can be verified at the following website:

http://www.ci.milpitas.ca.gov/milpitas/departments/city-clerk/campaign-committee-reports/

Letter to to deny Newby Islandfill Expansion

Honorable Members of San Jose Planning Commission,

I am writing to formally request that the Newby Island Expansion Permit be denied at the October 26 meeting or defer the decision in light of evidence of substantial changes that have occurred since the original 2012 EIR certification and zoning approval.

Please review the presentation file attached.
Also monumental is the fact that San Jose Planning Staff had been analyzing “Alleged Source” from BAAQMD when their report and recommendation was published. It is extremely irresponsible to draw any conclusion based on “alleged” data. I had brought this to Ms Whitney Berry’s immediate attention last week. Mr John Marvin, BAAQMD Compliance and Enforcement Division Manager, had confirmed my findings on the data discrepancy. He has supplied the valid “Confirmed Source” data to City of San Jose yesterday. Appended below is our email correspondence documenting this finding, together with the corrected spreadsheet. Until the new and valid data is thoroughly analyzed, it would be premature to hold a public hearing on Wednesday based on invalid data.
BAAQMD data represents the most comprehensive investigation into odorous sources over an extended period of time. Their data should be given far greater weight than ERM Odor Study which covered 2 arbitrarily weeks. BAAQMD confirmed complaints data clearly showed that the ERM prediction is underestimating the frequency of odor impacts onto surrounding communities.

I cannot stress enough that it is against City of San Jose’s Municipal Code to permit any project that is a public nuisance. The landfill in its present state already impose significant negative impacts on the of thousands who live, work, shop & play surrounding Newby Island. 20 open regulatory violations from BAAQMD, including 5 for landfill public nuisance, and 10 other violations from CalRecycle, LEA and RWQCB within the last 2 years is clear evidence of Republic Services’ poor conformance and operational track record. I hope you didn’t forget how Republic Services have lied through their teeth at past public hearings, denying odor responsibility and tried to blame others.

I have very low confidence in Republic Services’ ability to mitigate odor. They spent $27 millions in odor measures at their Sunshine Canyon Landfill, and violations persist. 2 Order of Abatement had to be pursued by Air District to modify their permit after expansion was approved. This is evidence that effective mitigation does not exist no matter how much $ is invested.

Sound public policies must be made to stop urban landfill expansions. Please take a lesson from the Tullytown Landfill closure and order landfill closure plan instead. It is an obligation for public officials such as you to protect public welfare.
Thank You for your attention and consideration.
Regards
Milpitas Resident

Oct 26th SJ Planning Commission Meeting on Newby Expansion

Update: Republic requested the item be deferral.  This was granted and the next meeting will be in December.

San Jose City Staff is recommending approval of Newby Island Landfill Expansion.
https://www.sanjoseca.gov/DocumentCenter/View/61655

Please join us for a rally and asking Planning Commission to deny Newby Island Landfill Expansion.

Will stage a Rally and meet with media at 5:30pm.
Meeting starts at 6:30pm. Meeting & Rally at San Jose City Hall

Free shuttle bus will be provided. Details see: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeXEG0GKhQKDpOe8c9aoUNvvS8uDB0ovSsR5bIHX4PPoz484Q/viewform?c=0&w=1

Request to Deny Newby Island Expansion Permit (PD14-014)

Request to Deny Newby Island Expansion Permit (PD14-014)
Honorable Members of San Jose Planning Commission,
I am writing to formally request that the Newby Island Expansion Permit be denied at the October 26 meeting or defer the decision in light of evidence of substantial changes that have occurred since the original 2012 EIR certification and zoning approval.
Please review the presentation file attached.
Also monumental is the fact that San Jose Planning Staff had been analyzing “Alleged Source” from BAAQMD when their report and recommendation was published. It is extremely irresponsible to draw any conclusion based on “alleged” data. I had brought this to Ms Whitney Berry’s immediate attention last week. Mr John Marvin, BAAQMD Compliance and Enforcement Division Manager, had confirmed my findings on the data discrepancy. He has supplied the valid “Confirmed Source” data to City of San Jose yesterday. Appended below is our email correspondence documenting this finding, together with the corrected spreadsheet. Until the new and valid data is thoroughly analyzed, it would be premature to hold a public hearing on Wednesday based on invalid data.
BAAQMD data represents the most comprehensive investigation into odorous sources over an extended period of time. Their data should be given far greater weight than ERM Odor Study which covered 2 arbitrarily weeks. BAAQMD confirmed complaints data clearly showed that the ERM prediction is underestimating the frequency of odor impacts onto surrounding communities.

I cannot stress enough that it is against City of San Jose’s Municipal Code to permit any project that is a public nuisance. The landfill in its present state already impose significant negative impacts on the of thousands who live, work, shop & play surrounding Newby Island. 20 open regulatory violations from BAAQMD, including 5 for landfill public nuisance, and 10 other violations from CalRecycle, LEA and RWQCB within the last 2 years is clear evidence of Republic Services’ poor conformance and operational track record. I hope you didn’t forget how Republic Services have lied through their teeth at past public hearings, denying odor responsibility and tried to blame others.

I have very low confidence in Republic Services’ ability to mitigate odor. They spent $27 millions in odor measures at theirSunshine Canyon Landfill, and violations persist. 2 Order of Abatement had to be pursued by Air District to modify their permit after expansion was approved. This is evidence that effective mitigation does not exist no matter how much $ is invested.

Sound public policies must be made to stop urban landfill expansions. Please take a lesson from the Tullytown Landfillclosure and order landfill closure plan instead. It is an obligation for public officials such as you to protect public welfare.
Thank You for your attention and consideration.
Regards
Milpitas Resident