SIMI VALLEY : Panel Revokes Firm’s Recycling Award
The California Integrated Waste Management Board has revoked an environmental citation it awarded to the Worm Concern.
The board last week included the Worm Concern on a list of 16 local businesses that received waste reduction awards for “outstanding leadership in reducing, reusing and recycling waste.”
On Friday, board members revoked the award because the company violated county environmental laws, said Liza Smith, board spokeswoman.
“We issued the award in error,” Smith said. “Somehow they slipped through our administrative procedures.”
Before a county order stopped it from accepting green waste, the Worm Concern used worms to recycle more than 100 tons of yard trimmings every day into fertilizer. But the company had operated for more than 18 months without a permit, and neighbors had continually complained about the smell and possible health effects from the facility, which they labeled a dump.
The Worm Concern continues to sell worms, worm bins and worm castings--which are used as fertilizer--but is no longer allowed to accept green waste, said Jeannie Satel, acting manager at the site.
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