Energy Agency Panel Sets Deadline for Resolving Issues on Trash Plant

A state Energy Commission committee has given the commission staff, Pacific Waste Management Corp. and the Miller Brewing Co. until Jan. 17 to resolve their differences over when the commission should act on Pacific Waste’s application for a permit to build a waste-to-energy plant.

The commission is scheduled to act on the permit by May 28 next year, but proponents and opponents of the project agreed this week that the deadline is no longer realistic. Attorney Richard Richards, representing Pacific Waste, which proposes to build the plant in an Irwindale quarry, said the permit process has turned out to be more complex than originally thought.

The commission staff has recommended that permit proceedings be halted until Pacific Waste submits information on air emissions and obtains contracts guaranteeing the supply of trash that would be burned to generate electricity.

Miller Brewing Co., which opposes construction of the plant near its brewery, has urged commissioners to dismiss the application and force Pacific Waste to reapply, delaying a commission decision on the permit until January, 1987. Pacific Waste says it is in the process of fulfilling air emission requirements and work on its permit should continue, but concedes that the May deadline for a commission decision should be extended.

Garret Shean, commission hearing officer, suggested that the parties meet Friday in Irwindale to try to resolve their differences over the schedule. If they cannot agree by Jan. 17, Shean said, the commission committee that is conducting hearings in the case will fix the schedule.