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Richmond Wastewater Plant

Richmond wastewater treatment plant to resume operations amid controversy

on January 27, 2011

The wastewater treatment plant in Point Richmond will soon restart full operations, said Aaron Weiner, district manager at Veolia Water, the company that runs the facility. The plant processes roughly two-thirds of the city’s sewage.  Solid waste processing at the plant was shut down in early October, 2010, after several tears were found in the cover of the plant’s anaerobic digester, which uses microorganisms to break down solid waste.

Since then, the company has been hauling about a hundred trucks of solid human waste each week to an East Bay Municipal Utility District facility in Oakland rather than conveying it through underground pipes.  At a recent meeting of the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council, Weiner said Veolia will use a process called lime stabilization, which involves injecting lime into the sludge to render it stable enough to move through normal pipelines.

The digester was shut down last fall after residents near the plant in Point Richmond filed complaints about a strong rotten-egg smell, the result of hydrogen sulfide—a byproduct of the anaerobic digestive process—leaking from the digester.  Residents also complained of symptoms associated with hydrogen sulfide exposure, including irritation of the nose, eyes and throat as well as nausea and vomiting.

At a packed neighborhood council meeting at the Point Richmond Community Center Wednesday evening, Weiner acknowledged that lime stabilization is not an ideal solution, but said it was less disruptive and expensive that hauling the waste to Oakland.  “It’s better economically, and it gets the trucks off the roads,” he said.

He said it was an “interim” measure until a new digester cover arrives.  Although he said a new cover was ordered, he did not say when it would arrive or how long it would take to install.

Chad Davisson, the wastewater management officer for the city, said that using lime stabilization was a crude solution, but that it has been used safely for a long time.  “It’s not ideal.  It will stabilize the sludge,” he said, “but it doesn’t reduce the volume [of waste] the way the digester does.”  Davisson said that the infrastructure could handle the extra waste in the meantime.

Maureen Decombe, a nearby resident, dismissed the lime stabilization method as stopgap, calling it “latrine technology,” She doesn’t deny that the method would work, but said it was the process that she objected to.

Decombe said that many of the plant’s neighbors were frustrated when they found out that the plant would re-start operations because they were not informed that Veolia had applied for a permit to restart operations, and that they feel the company has not been open with residents nearby about what is happening.  “What we have is a clash between corporate culture and a public utility,” she said.

Like many residents, she is concerned about a return to hydrogen sulfide levels experienced in October.  She said that the information at the meeting was the most information Veolia had shared with the community about their plans.

Regardless of when the company is allowed to begin processing biosolids again, Decombe and other residents worry that the long-term problem is the plant itself, which is sixty years old.  It operates in close a proximity to several homes and to Washington Elementary School, about 1,200 yards away, said Decombe. Another resident suggested that even if a new cover is installed, the basic infrastructure has not been improved and problems will continue.

Decombe is optimistic that a longer conversation about Richmond’s wastewater infrastructure will come out of this.  “We are very pleased that City Council is paying attention to this situation,” she said.

Jeff Ritterman, who attended the meeting with fellow city councilmembers Corky Boozé and Tom Butt, said that the wastewater treatment plant is likely to be the most expensive capital project that Richmond will take on in the next five years.

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District has opened an investigation into the digester problems in October, and residents have asked the California EPA and the Attorney General’s office to open inquiries as well.

12 Comments

  1. Jim Kay on January 27, 2011 at 5:56 pm

    yuck, this plant is just a wide spot in the line…to the bay 🙁



  2. Ralph Wolfe on January 27, 2011 at 6:19 pm

    The person who is responsible always blames someone else for when things go upside down. He either points the finger to the person who is his supervisor or the person directly below him His initals are JW



  3. Maureen Decombe on January 27, 2011 at 11:45 pm

    Assertions that it’s “better economically” to restart the plant need to take into account the impact of sewer odors on the property values of thousands of homeowners who live close to the plant. Economy includes the whole community, all of Richmond, and all rate payers. Solid, well managed facilities = good economic sense. Consequences of losing the permit to operate due to discovery of leaks = cost of doing business.



    • Jim Kay on January 28, 2011 at 6:35 am

      I’m afraid that you have the same problem as the People in Novato have and that is being too close to a waste treatment plant operated by veolia water. First, they were kind enough to give the people of Point Richmond the “veolia stink”, then they gave the “veolia stink” to the people of Novato. But dont worry, its duck tape and plastic wrap to the rescue. What a sham this company is. Its just a no “Good” situation for all…except the profiteers. Oui Oui.



      • Maureen Decombe on January 28, 2011 at 1:16 pm

        Tell us more, Jim. Don’t you have a brand new plant there?



        • member on January 28, 2011 at 5:39 pm

          “Jim Kay” or jimk doesn’t have a brand new plant in Novato or anywhere else. He’s a disgruntled former Veolia employee who was fired. He lives in Livermore and spends his time trashing Veolia.

          By the way, the odors at the Novato plant came from a startup problem in the new odor-control process, and the “stink” was caused by a long-time Novato gadfly whose house is twenty yards from the plant boundary, and who is suing the sanitary district for a large amount of money.



          • Jim Kay on January 29, 2011 at 1:33 am

            As I recall, I resigned from your crappy company…not fired. You should get your facts straight, member. And to refer to a citizen of Novato, who you serve, as a gadfly is appalling.



          • Jim Kay on January 29, 2011 at 2:52 am

            As far as trashing veolia? you guys don’t need my help, you do a very “Good” job of trashing veolia water all by yourselves..I merely point it out. Its all out there on the net. Duct tape and plastic wrap is your fix, not my imagination. As for the poor sole who owns property 20 yards from the Novato plant, The city may have zoned that area as residential assuming that, run properly, the waste water plant would NOT emit any foul odors. The “veolia stink” is your own creation.



          • Jim Kay on January 30, 2011 at 6:30 am

            Newsflash; another veolia train crash, this time in Germany. http://www.rte.ie/news/2011/0130/germany.html



  4. Maureen Decombe on January 30, 2011 at 1:51 pm

    Curiouser and curiouser…



    • Jim Kay on January 31, 2011 at 4:40 am

      Watch out Maureen, you may soon be classified as a “gadfly” by the schmucks at veolia water.



  5. Jim Kay on January 30, 2011 at 2:16 pm

    Its funny, The schmucks at veolia water know the identity of those writing comments in this forum, but when those schmucks at veolia water post to the forum, they hide behind names like “member”. Typical company policy is to hide behind smoke and mirrors anyways so nothing new here.



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