SIMI VALLEY : False Alarms Cited at Worm Concern

A flurry of false fire calls from neighbors of the Worm Concern has sent firefighters to the Tierra Rejada Road green-waste recycling facility at least three times since the county ordered the company to close its doors last week.

Fire officials said the smoke and steam coming off decomposing piles of yard trimmings prompted the calls, not retribution from irate neighbors who also want the facility shut down.

“We believe these are legitimate calls,” said Sandi Wells, spokeswoman for the Ventura County Fire Department. “There is smoke regularly coming from these piles, but at this point, we don’t feel they pose any sort of threat.”

Fire Department personnel plan to refer future calls to the county Air Pollution Control Department, Wells said.

“Of course, if there’s a legitimate danger, we’ll send out our crews,” she said.

The Worm Concern, which uses worms to recycle yard trimmings into fertilizer, was ordered by the county Department of Environmental Health to stop accepting material Nov. 30 and vacate the site near Simi Valley by the end of the year. The business has continued accepting material, but the county has yet to enforce its “cease and desist” order. For 18 months, the company has operated on the 20-acre site without a permit.

The company’s neighbors have complained bitterly about odors, dust and noise since it started accepting the material.

Neighbors have also threatened a class-action suit and are trying to close the operation by pressuring the owners of the land to evict the Worm Concern.