Republic Services rate hike on city agenda

  POINT RICHMOND - A member of the Richmond City Council has agreed with citizen requests to remove a consent calendar item from the council's Tuesday meeting agenda, that would grant a rate increase for Republic Services.
   The rate increase is listed on the agenda among 18 consent calendar items. Consent calendar items are considered non-controversial and are usually approved in a single motion by the city council.
   (Link to the Republic Services item: Republic Services rate hike - I7 on the consent agenda.)
   When pulled from the consent calendar and put on the regular agenda, the council can discuss the rate hike as well as allow public discussion - if it so choses.
   The Richmond City Council meeting begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Community Services Building, 440 Civic Center Plaza.

    The rate hike for Republic comes amid numerous reports of the return of noxious odors - similar to what Point residents have complained about since September.

   More than 400 citizen complaints have been filed with various local government entities as well as Republic Services directly.
  Republic's ongoing composting operation has been identified by Bay Area air quality officials as the likely source of the foul smells.
 
   Republic Services this fall held two meetings with Point residents, explaining that the company was trying to get rid of a massive pile of sour compost by trucking it to another Republic landfill near Pittsburgh.
   By January, Republic said all of the suspect compost had been removed and the company had installed a new system for treating compost. Company officials assured people at both meetings that the new composting system was nearly guaranteed to be odor free for residents.
   But in the past week residents have reported smelling the strong fumes again to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the Contra Costa County Health Department and City of Richmond Code enforcement.
   The city council meeting comes slightly more than a week before the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council's scheduled meeting Wednesday Jan. 25.
   Among a variety of items, the PRNC is expected to discuss the noxious fumes that have continued to plague Point Richmond, Richmond and are now drawing reports of bad smells from other neighboring communities.
   The PRNC has Republic Services on the agenda to give an update about its transfer station and composting operation on Parr Road. Officials from Chevron have also been invited.
   The PRNC meeting is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m. at the Point Richmond Community Center and is open to the public.

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CONTACT INFORMATION:

Chevron company odor hotline: 510-242-2127
Bay Area Air Quality Management hotline - 1-800-334-6367
Contra Costa County's Lori Braunesreither, Department of Health
EMAIL: Lori Braunesreither. Direct Phone: 925-692-2528

Nicole Ewing, Richmond Code Enforcement (510-621-1591)

Bielle Moore, Republic Services community affairs manager
PHONES: (510-262-7547 or 510-205-4908)
Email: Bielle Moore

New Marina Way south housing project

   POINT RICHMOND - The planned Richmond-to-San Francisco ferry service has been described as a game changer in support of a developer's plans for a new housing project underway in Marina Bay, at 830 Marina Way South.
     (Here is a link to an earlier story about the SF Bay ferry: FERRY SERVICE TO SF.)
     The project is close to where the new ferry will dock when it begins operating in 2018.
     Details about the 10-acre project - which is projected to have 100 town homes and 98 "live-work" units - were published today in the East Bay Times.
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From the East Bay Times

Former warehouse to become new housing

    By Karina Ioffee

     RICHMOND — A former industrial warehouse site will soon become live-work units and town homes, part of Richmond’s ongoing development of its shoreline that has drawn considerable interest from both home buyers and developers.

     In late December, crews began work cleanup on the 10-acre property in the Marina Bay neighborhood and less than half a mile from the waterfront and a ferry terminal set to begin operations in 2018.

     “We felt there was quite a bit of potential in this area and think the ferry will be a game-changer,” said Matt Hamilton, project manager with Development Solutions Seascape LLC, based in Newport Beach, which is developing the property. “It is one of the last relatively affordable areas in the core Bay Area ring.”

LINK to the rest of the story

Chevron eyed as one source of foul smells

   POINT RICHMOND - The East Bay Times reported late Friday that officials are "zeroing in" on the Chevron Refinery in Richmond as the likely source of at least some of the noxious odors  experienced in Richmond, Point Richmond and across the Bay in San Francisco in late December.

FROM THE EAST BAY TIMES, January 6, 2017:

By Karina Ioffee

     RICHMOND — Air district officials are zeroing in on the Chevron refinery in Richmond as the source of foul odors detected in San Francisco and Richmond, with fines against the company likely, according to one member of the district’s board of directors.

    The refinery experienced two flaring incidents, one on Dec. 27, shortly before midnight, and the other Dec. 28 around 8:45 p.m., according to a report issued by the refinery for Contra Costa County health officials. One of the flaring incidents was not reported for at least 12 hours, violating state law, according to John Gioia, a Contra Costa County supervisor and member of the Bay Area Air Quality Management District board.

    Gioia said in a phone interview Friday that air district officials now believe that the flaring incidents were responsible for the odors that were reported in San Francisco and Richmond.

For the rest of the story, click HERE.

East Bay Times story on odor problem

    POINT RICHMOND - The East Bay Times published a story this morning recapping the problem of noxious odors that have plagued the Point for months.
    The story comes in the wake of comments Thursday by Bay Area Air Quality Management District officials and investigators that they are suspicious that the remaining windrows of raw compost material at Republic Services on Parr Road north of the Point might be the source of the smell that Point residents have been experiencing since Christmas.

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From the East Bay Times:

Improperly composted material causes a stink in Richmond

By Karina Iofee

RICHMOND — Republic Services, a major waste-disposal company in the Bay Area, stored 10 times more compost than it was permitted to at a local landfill, causing the material to improperly decompose and ultimately emit a noxious odor that some neighboring residents say has made them ill.

Instead of being resold to agricultural users such as farmers and vintners, as much as 360,000 cubic yards of compost — about a football stadium filled 70 yards deep with soil — went sour and had to be landfilled, despite the company’s promise to reduce waste.

FOR THE REST OF THE STORY, CLICK HERE: Improperly composted material 

BAAQMD officials are suspicious of Republic Services' compost windrows

     POINT RICHMOND - The Bay Area Air Quality Management District said today it is suspicious that some remaining windrows of raw compost material at Republic Services on Parr Road may be the source of the most recent foul odors flooding Point Richmond in the evenings and early morning hours.
     These windrow piles are separate from the two large stacks of compost materials that the company has been trucking away to a Republic-owned landfill for the past few months.
     While the BAAQMD is suspicious the windrows are the source, the investigation is still underway, an official said.

     The air quality agency has visited the site numerous times over the past few months in response to several hundred citizen complaints about the noxious fumes wafting into Point Richmond. Some residents believe the fumes are the likely cause of headaches and sore throats that occur concurrently when the noxious odor is present.
     For the past two evenings, the complaints have ramped up significantly, prompting Republic officials, BAAQMD staff and even private citizens to scour the area trying to locate the exact source.
     The district said in a press release that it is investigating all potential sources of rotten-egg odor complaints in Richmond and San Francisco.
    The investigation includes "...Two flaring incidents at Chevron as well as other potential sources such as ships, area landfills and wastewater treatment facilities."
     Jack Broadbent, executive officer of the air quality district said the agency will pursue "any an all enforcement actions," once the source is determined.

     While the hunt continues for that source, the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council has invited Chevron officials to attend the next PRNC meeting, most likely January 25 unless the PRNC decides to hold a special meeting. Republic Services is scheduled to be on the agenda for the same PRNC meeting to give an update on its new composting system.
     David Schoenthal, president of the PRNC, said he been in touch with Chevron officials who say that the company is confident the foul odors in the Point are not the result of any Chevron activities.

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CONTACT INFORMATION:

Chevron company odor hotline: 510-242-2127
BAAQMD hotline - 1-800-334-6367
Contra Costa County's Lori Braunesreither, Department of Health
EMAIL: Lori Braunesreither.
Phone: 925-692-2528

Nicole Ewing, Richmond Code Enforcement (510-621-1591)

Bielle Moore, Republic Services community affairs manager
PHONES: (510-262-7547 or 510-205-4908)
Email: Bielle Moore

Point's struggle with odors continues

    POINT RICHMOND, Calif. - Residents of Point Richmond starting calling government agencies Tuesday evening shortly after 8 p.m., reporting an overwhelming noxious smell that touched off a Point-wide hunt for the source of the fumes.
     Representatives of Republic Services turned out Tuesday night to help chase down the source of the smell.
     That hunt was still on this morning as some residents in the downtown area and out in Brickyard Cove continued to report smelling an odor foul enough to keep them indoors.

     Even though fingers were immediately pointed at Republic Services much-criticized composting operation on Parr Road, it remains unclear exactly who is responsible for the most recent odor that prompted dozens of phone calls and emails to air quality officials and others.
     And it was also not clear today if the strong stench reported in Point Richmond had any connection to a mysterious, sulphur-dioxide smell reported in parts of San Francisco Tuesday night.
     Reportedly there were foul odors on the west side of the Richmond-San Rafael bridge last night too.

     Point Richmond resident Steve Birnbaum - writing on the social network Nextdoor - suggested a community meeting should be held with Chevron representatives in an attempt to sort out if Chevron had in any way contributed to Tuesday's - and today's - noxious fumes. He said he has contacted the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council see about inviting Chevron to its next meeting.
     The PRNC's next scheduled meeting is Wednesday, Jan. 25, but could call a special meeting.

Looking north from Point Richmond

Compost material gone - but smell lingers

   POINT RICHMOND - Republic Services announced Monday afternoon that it had removed the last of the raw compost material from its Parr Road site the company was concerned might cause odor problems.
     The Monday work - completed at 3 p.m. - came after a two-day, holiday halt to trucking the material offsite to a Republic-operated landfill.
     But hours after the announcement Monday, Point residents began complaining the familiar noxious smell was flooding the Point again. Similar complaints came in Tuesday morning from around Point Richmond. Several residents complained - as they have in the past - that the fumes were causing headaches and throat irritations.

    Republic spokeswoman Bielle Moore said Tuesday morning that operations crews from Republic - including Doug Brewer, Republic's environmental manager - were working to determine the origin of the smell.
     Since early fall, Republic has removed a 360,000 cubic-foot pile of compost-gone-bad off its property. The last of that material was gone before Christmas. The material removed Monday had been scheduled for regular composting. But company officials opted to remove it in case it had turned  sour also.
     The removal of the massive amount of raw compost this fall has prompted hundreds of citizen complaints to air quality officials, Contra Costa County Health officials and City of Richmond Code Enforcement. Nearly all of the reported incidents of noxious smells and fumes have come during times when the wind has been blowing from the north.

    A new composting system - unveiled at two community meetings - is on line and is currently in use processing compost, Moore said. The company believes this new, forced-air system is much less likely to produce any of the odors that have plagued the Point since September.
     Moore was fielding phone calls and email queries from Point residents for most of the morning.
     Republic is scheduled to give the Point Richmond Neighborhood Council an update Wednesday, Jan. 25 on the new composting system and other activities.

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CONTACT INFORMATION:

Contra Costa County's Lori Braunesreither, Department of Health
EMAIL: Lori Braunesreither. 

Nicole Ewing, Richmond Code Enforcement (510-621-1591)

Bielle Moore, Republic Services community affairs manager
PHONES: (510-262-7547 or 510-205-4908)
Email: Bielle Moore