AQMD panel again delays decision on changes to Rainbow waste facility

After a second lengthy public hearing within five days, Huntington Beach residents will now have to wait until Tuesday to hear whether the South Coast Air Quality Management District will approve proposed changes to Rainbow Environmental Services’ waste management facility.

Four witnesses were questioned Thursday at AQMD’s headquarters in Diamond Bar by a five-member hearing panel and by attorneys representing the regional air quality regulator and the Huntington Beach waste facility. The extensive questioning during the six-hour hearing resulted in the meeting being continued to 9 a.m. Tuesday, again in Diamond Bar.

Thursday’s meeting was a continuation of a six-hour hearing Saturday in Huntington Beach.

The hearing board is tasked with deciding whether stricter regulations should be imposed on Rainbow regarding odors and dust emanating from the facility on Nichols Lane near Warner Avenue in the Oak View neighborhood. AQMD has issued 13 notices of violation to the business since 2013.

The proposed changes were a collaborative effort between Rainbow and AQMD staff. It is up to the hearing board to determine whether the changes are justified.

Karin Manwaring, senior deputy district counsel for AQMD, told the board that the parties agreed to new conditions intended to address asbestos being dumped at the trash facility.

Dumping the potentially hazardous mineral fiber at Rainbow is illegal. However, Min Sue, an AQMD inspector assigned to monitor Rainbow, said Saturday that he saw a pile of asbestos a few years ago.

The new conditions would require Rainbow to implement monitoring devices around the facility to detect the presence of asbestos for at least three months. If no asbestos is detected, Rainbow could monitor the area less frequently, if AQMD approves. If asbestos is detected, Rainbow would not be allowed to receive construction and demolition debris until the asbestos is properly removed.

Asbestos monitoring would continue until the area where construction and demolition debris is handled is placed in a proposed partial enclosure that would have no more than a 15% opening. Oak View residents have asked that it be fully enclosed.

Additionally, Rainbow would be required to monitor vehicles unloading material at the construction and demolition debris area to prevent unauthorized materials, including asbestos, from entering the facility.

Ronald Krall, president of the Los Angeles area for Republic Services, which owns Rainbow, said he was concerned about the proposed conditions regarding asbestos monitoring. He said Rainbow shouldn’t be held at fault for those who illegally take the material into the facility.

Proposed changes targeting odors and dust include fully enclosing the areas where Rainbow collects and sorts solid waste, recyclables and green waste.

Rainbow has agreed to build the enclosures, estimated to cost $10 million, by Dec. 1, 2017. However, Ken Thomson, a general contractor whom Rainbow has hired to work on the project, said construction could be completed six to eight months before that if permits and construction go smoothly.

Thomson, president of Anaheim-based Facility Builders & Erectors, said the project would need to be built in phases to provide a safe environment for construction workers and Rainbow employees.

“Every incremental step that we make on that building is going to go toward improving the quality of air that we’re talking about,” he said.

Under other proposed changes, Rainbow would be required to install a misting system to address dust and odors and would be barred from crushing concrete at the facility.

It also could not receive loads of trash from supermarkets that contain animal trimmings that are particularly odorous.

Another condition would restrict the business to receiving no more than 2,800 tons of waste per day and no more than 2,000 tons of solid waste per day. Currently it is permitted to receive up to 4,000 tons of waste per day.