Hope Seen for Sludge Plan Near Lancaster : Agriculture: Officials hope they have overcome objections in the Antelope Valley to using L.A. sewage residue as fertilizer on farms.

A Los Angeles sanitation official said Monday that officials hope they have “turned the corner” in overcoming objections in the Antelope Valley to the use of city sewage sludge as fertilizer on farms in the Lancaster area.

Despite the early opposition in that area, a private contractor will seek a state license Thursday to spread an average of 20 tons a day of the sludge on a 640-acre ranch 10 miles east of Lancaster, said Sheila Molyneux, a Bureau of Sanitation executive.

In comments to the city’s Board of Public Works on Monday, Molyneux predicted that 10 of the major farmers in the Antelope Valley will support the project at a hearing before the California Regional Water Quality Control Board. “We’ve got farmers from all over who want our sludge,” Molyneux said. The sludge--nutrient-rich remnants of solid waste from the city’s sewage system that has been treated and concentrated--is actually more environmentally safe as a soil supplement than chemical fertilizers, board member Felicia Marcus said. Marcus, an environmental activist, said it was unfortunate that the use of the sludge as fertilizer has generated controversy.

A state water quality board decision to permit the sludge to be applied to Antelope Valley farmland would boost the city’s efforts to find a home for the tons of sewage it generates daily.

The announcement last March that the city planned to dispose of the sludge on five Mojave Desert farms totaling 3,500 acres sparked controversy in the Antelope Valley. After the project was publicized, the owners of four of the five farms withdrew their agreement to accept the sludge.

In addition, the use of the city’s sludge on farms in Blythe in Riverside County was temporarily suspended recently after citizens raised questions about the project.

But the water quality board’s staff late last month recommended approval of the Los Angeles proposal to dispose of 20 dry tons a day of sludge in the Antelope Valley.

Bio Gro Systems Inc., which has a contract to dispose of hundreds of tons of sludge generated daily by the city of Los Angeles, is seeking the state permit to apply the sludge to a farm it owns in the Antelope Valley.

One possible obstacle to Bio Gro’s application could be raised by Los Angeles County. As of late Monday, county Planning Department officials were still trying to determine if Bio Gro’s proposal needed a county land-use permit.

If a county permit is needed, the water board will postpone Thursday’s hearing. The board’s position is that Bio Gro must obtain all needed local permits before the board will consider an application.