San Luis Obispo residents raise concerns over anaerobic digestion facility

Residents are concerned that opening the facility may cause loud noises, odors and overwhelming truck traffic.

September 1, 2016
REW Staff

Locals from San Luis Obispo, California, are challenging the city’s Planning Commission’s plan to open an anaerobic digester on Waste Connections’ San Luis Garbage property, a report by The New Times says.

The plans have already been approved by the commission, but a group of residents who are located between the nearby airport and industrial area are concerned with overwhelming truck traffic, odors and loud noises the facility may produce.

The 43,000-square-foot facility was proposed by Hitachi Zosen Inova, with U.S. headquarters in Norcross, Georgia, to turn the city’s municipal solid waste into electricity, the report says.

Residents are also upset by the lack of information provided by the Planning Commission. While Hitachi Zosen Inova assured residents there would be no odor or loud noises, locals still felt the plans were pushed to approval too fast and are demanding an environmental impact report from the county.

Locals told The New Times that they have only heard of the project three weeks before a public meeting through a neighbor, the report says. Because their properties are not close enough to the San Luis Garbage facility, within 1,000 feet, notification from the county was not required.