Author: Stella Yip

Email: Stellayip369@gmail.com

Description:

Complaint has been forwarded to the Air District for further investigation.

Author: Alona Davis, BAAQMD

Email: adavis@baaqmd.gov

Description:

An Air District inspector investigated the complaint, observed the garbage odor, and contacted Recology. He looked for operations that may cause excess odors like garbage spilling out of the buildings and loads of garbage sitting uncovered for long periods of time, but found nothing out of the ordinary during his visit. Unfortunately, the Air District has no regulations to enforce regarding the handling of solid waste. That responsibility lies with the Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) which in this case is the City's Bureau of Environmental Health Services.

Author: Alona Davis, BAAQMD

Email: adavis@baaqmd.gov

Description:

I would like to suggest that any complaint lodged through IVAN against Recology also be routed to the solid waste agency. To clarify my earlier comment, while the Air District does respond to odor complaints - and are happy to investigate, the Air District does not have much jurisdiction over the actual operations of the facility that could make an impact on any odor issues. And odor alone, is not necessarily a violation of any of our regulations. Where we do have the authority, the Air District has taken enforcement action during our regular inspections of Recology. In January 2015, we issued two violation notices to Recology for a visible emissions violation and for not operating the water spray system, which is required by their Air District permit conditions.

Author: Tony Verreos > Little Hollywood Improvement Committee

Email: tony@verreos.com

Description:

BAAQMD Alona Davis: Thanks for the report. 1> Do the 2 January violation notices carry a fine, or just a fix it cite? 2> What were those "visible emissions"? 3> What explanation for the water spray system being off? 4> Can Greenaction help us log these complaints with S.F. Environmental Health Services? Are they already part of the IVAN Task Force? If not why not?

Author: Alona Davis, Bay Area Air Quality Management District

Email: adavis@baaqmd.gov

Description:

Hi Tony, Any Violation Notice issued by the Air District does result in a fine of some sort, unless the violation notice gets cancelled for lack of evidence or something like that. The amount of the fine is based on a variety of factors. One of those factors is how quickly the facility brings the violating emission source into compliance. I cannot provide details of the violations issued in January 2015, but you can obtain copies of the Violation reports if you like. The reports will give details about which regulation was violated and what information the inspector obtained during his/her investigation. Go to www.baaqmd.gov main page, in the upper right of the page, go to Public Records. You can request Violation notice reports for Recology SF (For reference the Site # for this facility is A4173). Or call our Public Records office at 415-749-4761 and someone can help you make your request.

Author: Alona Davis, BAAQMD

Email: adavis@baaqmd.gov

Description:

Hi Tony, Just to follow up on one other question you had, it sounds like S.F. Environmental Health Services has recently become part of the task force. At the last task force meeting, CalRecycle (the State Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery) attended and said they would relay the info to the "local enforcement agency (LEA)" which is the SF Env. Health Services, whose representative was unable to make it to the meeting. CalRecycle regulates solid waste facilities and the LEA enforces and implements those programs/regulations.

Author: Alona Davis

Email: adavis@baaqmd.gov

Description:

UPDATE: There will be a joint agency inspection/survey of Recology SF and the Little Hollywood area on December 14th, led by the Dept of Public Health - Solid Waste Program. Other entities involved will likely include the Air District, DPH Vector Control, DPH Noise Specialist, SF Dept of Environment, and Dept of Public Works.