Inspections Smell Fishy to Ventura Firm

A Ventura recycling company cited for fouling the air over some Oxnard neighborhoods wants a judge to determine whether the county’s own inspection program passes the smell test.

California Wood Recycling, which reached a settlement with Ventura County in 2001 over complaints about the stench emitted by its waste piles, is challenging the county’s recent crackdown on the firm’s operations and persistent charges it is a major source of odors in the area.

Attorneys for the recycling company contend the county’s Environmental Health Division violated the terms of the settlement by using Oxnard city inspectors to sniff out complaints from neighbors. They argue the agreement stipulated that only county inspectors would perform the work.

“The City of Oxnard has a vested interest in the odor complaints because of its potential liability for allowing developers to build housing tracts in the odor corridor,” attorney Alejandro Gutierrez wrote in court documents.

“Since the City of Oxnard is not neutral, it is the last entity that should be verifying odor complaints,” Gutierrez stated in the documents. He could not be reached for comment Thursday.

County lawyers argued in Ventura County Superior Court this week that the recycling company, which handles hundreds of tons of green waste per day, has received fair warning about problems with its operations in the past and is merely trying to prevent enforcement by redirecting blame.

“They’ve got to do something,” said Robert Gallagher, director of the Environmental Health Division, who said California Wood consultants drew up most of the settlement. “We’re at the point where we absolutely have to have some action.”

After receiving dozens of complaints about odors wafting through area neighborhoods, the county began enforcing terms of the 2001 settlement, which stipulates that the company reduce its business operations if existing mitigation measures prove inadequate.

“We’re trying to get them to comply with our orders,” Assistant County Counsel Walter Wall said. “They want to prevent us from doing any enforcement.”

Concerned that the county’s orders could drive it out of business, California Wood responded by seeking an injunction preventing the county from taking action. In addition to its claims regarding inspections, the recycling firm alleges it is being unfairly singled out for pollution problems.

In its court action, California Wood contends there are two waste water treatment facilities -- a mushroom farm and agricultural fields -- in the same area that also contribute to odor problems.

“Cal Wood is the only one of these odor producers subject to the [environmental agency’s] jurisdiction, and the only one whose odor emissions are regulated or monitored,” according to the court records.

A recent study concluded that while a waste water treatment plant was the chief source of odors in the area, the recycling plant’s organic wood chip piles have a high potential for emitting “nuisance odors” even in low concentrations.

Lawyers for California Wood Recycling have said the company would like the county’s help in implementing new technologies that would allow the company to gauge both the types of odors and their source.

“The current system is unfortunately unscientific and subjective, and appears to have been manipulated by a few residents of the City of Oxnard who are using the odor complaint mechanism as part of a crusade to shut down Cal Wood’s facility,” Gutierrez wrote in court documents.

But some residents don’t put much stock in California Wood’s arguments. “Cal Wood doesn’t care about the health and well-being of the citizens of Oxnard,” said neighborhood resident Travis Childress. “It’s a money-making operation.”

Testimony in the hearing is to continue next week.