Sunol Compost Facility

VICTORY!!!!

The Alameda County Waste Management Authority board voted unanimously last month to put the proposed Sunol compost facility project on hold, in reaction to a 4-0 vote by the county Board of Supervisors that the plan did not comply with the county's general plan. The ACWMA vote effectively kills the project. Read the June 29 Tri-Valley Herald article.

The Alameda County Waste Management Authority (ACWMA) proposed construction of a 40 acre compost facility along Andrade Road in the Sunol Valley.

Read an April 11, 2006 Editorial in the Tri-City Voice - Will Sunol Stink?

The ACWMA has prepared a Draft Environmental Impact Report for the project. The Alameda Creek Alliance, Communities for a Healthy Alameda County Environment (CHACE), Save Our Sunol, and the Sierra Club are opposing siting this facility in the Sunol Valley.

The compost facility would be located next to Sheridan Creek, a tributary of Alameda Creek, and nearby known populations of the California red-legged frog and the California tiger salamander. The facility would attract predators of these amphibians and would also eliminate potential breeding habitat for several protected grassland bird species.

The Alameda Creek Alliance believes that the proposed Andrade Road site in Sunol is not an appropriate location for the compost facility since it will destroy habitat for native species and may have indirect impacts on numerous sensitive species. The site selection process for the facility was fatally flawed, since the proposed facility was linked to a specific project site rather than determining the best location for the project and then designing a facility. As a result, the ACWMA has chosen the project location with the most significant impacts to listed and sensitive species. We propose that the ACWMA reinitiate the site selection process and choose a more urban site or a site that already handles waste products, and that will not result in destruction or conversion of undeveloped land that is potential wildlife habitat.

The final EIR for the compost facility is on the Stop Waste (ACWMA) website.

Read a February 16, 2006 Press Release by Citizens for a Healthy Alameda County Environment (CHACE).

View the ACA comments on the DEIR and our recent letter to the Board of the ACWMA

Sunol residents have expressed concerns about the odor, noise, truck traffic, and health and visual impacts of the facility. For more information visit the CHACE web site.