SIMI VALLEY : Worm Concern Is Giving Up the Fight

The Worm Concern, embroiled in a months-long conflict with its neighbors and county officials, officially surrendered Thursday by withdrawing a request for a conditional use permit for its Tierra Rejada Valley business.

The company’s Oxnard-based attorney, Fred Rosemund, said it plans to shut down its green waste operation for good and possibly join a green waste venture in Chino. Workers at the site will clear the piles of lawn and garden material over the next three months, and sell it off as mulch and fertilizer, Rosemund said.

“The company will no longer be involved in green waste recycling in Ventura County,” he said. “The county’s decision to require the same type of permits involved with a solid waste dump make it impossible to operate here.”

County officials ordered the Worm Concern to stop accepting green waste late last year or face steep fines after more than two years of operating without a permit. Faced with a county lawsuit and a possible suit from neighboring homeowners, the company backed down from the confrontation.

Rosemund said Worm Concern officials hope the county will allow them to keep a small portion of their business that sells worms and worm composting bins at their facility off Tierra Rejada Road near Simi Valley.

A final cleanup plan for the site has not yet been approved by attorneys representing the county, Rosemund said, but he expects an agreement on the cleanup within the next two weeks.