Composting question returns to council

Two years ago, a close vote killed an Environmental Services Center proposed for the Baylands.

But the Palo Alto City Council’s decision left several issues unresolved, including the fate of the seven-acre composting facility at the landfill, where the city’s lawn clippings and other green waste are currently converted into nutrient-rich compost.

In 2011, the composting operation, along with the rest of the landfill, is slated for closure.

Then, the city’s green waste would be trucked to Sunnyvale, where it would either be composted, converted to a ground cover material or burned for energy, according to Solid Waste Manager Russell Reiserer.

That’s not OK with Councilman Peter Drekmeier, who plans to ask his colleagues Monday to investigate keeping the composting operation in Palo Alto, saving transportation costs and maintaining control of its own waste.

Vice Mayor Larry Klein and Councilman John Barton also support researching the city’s composting options, a task that would include calculating environmental and economic costs, Klein said.

The trio proposes four locations worthy of study: the current landfill location, the grounds of the Regional Water Quality Control Plant, the Los Altos Hills Sewage Treatment Plant site on San Antonio Road and a vacant lot at the Palo Alto Airport.

However, the seven acres currently used for composting, along with the rest of the Embarcadero Road landfill, will become a park in 2011. Environmentalists who support the environmental restoration are not in favor of trading that for waste reduction.

The 2005 vote, which was for a much larger facility that included composting, united Mayor Yoriko Kishimoto with council members LaDoris Cordell, Judy Kleinberg, Bern Beecham and Dena Mossar. Cordell, Kleinberg, Beecham and Mossar are wrapping up their council terms, which end in January.

The future of the city’s composting facility therefore lies with the next council, which will have four new members.

Candidate Pat Burt said he thinks the city should study each issue affected by the landfill closure separately, rather than lumping them together as was attempted in the Environmental Services Center proposal.

Several other candidates could not be reached Thursday.

Kishimoto acknowledged the composting issue is tough.

“It really comes down to land and (vehicle) trips and composting,” she said. Kishimoto said she has a compost pile in her yard and is a strong supporter of the process.

But she also is a fan of converting the landfill into Byxbee Park.

“I would definitely think twice before changing it,” she said.

The city has composted material in the Baylands since 1977, Reiserer said.

If the city were to begin collecting food waste and additional biodegradables, the operation will need to change anyway, he said.

He said it would be cheaper for the city to maintain its own operation.

Klein cautioned the city is a “long way from the final decision.”

The council is expected to discuss the issue Monday at 7 p.m.