By Tony Burchyns
Gilroy
– Not everyone thinks expansion of the Z-Best compost facility
is a good idea.
Gilroy – Not everyone thinks expansion of the Z-Best compost facility is a good idea.
Z-Best wants to increase the size of its composting facility, located along Highway 25 near the Santa Clara-San Benito county line, from 77 acres to 157 acres. The company composts environmental and food-industry waste.
But neighbors have complained of bugs and bad odors, and Santa Clara County is now asking the company to fund an environmental impact report.
“We’ve determined we’re going to do an EIR before having a public hearing,” said county planner Colleen Oda, who is overseeing the project. “We’ve hired a consultant. The EIR will look at air quality, and we’ll have a scoping meeting in the Gilroy area in April.”
The scoping meeting will give neighbors another chance to air their concerns about Z-Best before the EIR work begins. Oda said residents who live near the facility would be notified ahead of time.
Opened in 1998, Z-Best is the state’s largest composting facility with capacity to accept 1,300 tons of yard trimmings and food waste every day. Large tractor-trailer rigs haul the waste to the site, where it is packed into 10-foot-high mounds. After 14 to 18 weeks, the waste is processed again into wood chips and mulch.
The operation, which is owned by San Jose-based Zanker Road Resource Management Ltd., is state-certified.
The Z-Best facility contains 157 acres, but the company is only permitted to use 80 acres. The company wants to expand to add more outdoor compost mounds and storage areas.
Michael Gross, marketing directing for Zanker Road Resource Management, said the company hopes to work with neighbors while moving forward with the EIR and the expansion project.
At least one neighbor has raised concerns on the proposed Z-Best expansion. Ralph Santos, who lives a half-mile northwest of the site, said the bugs and stench are bad enough without having to worry about more garbage.
“As time has gone on, they’ve covered more and more of the ground to the point we have a major odor issue,” Santos told the Dispatch in December. “They’ve also been allowed to put in restaurant and food waste. Combining all this, it’s gone from something that was a minor nuisance to a major problem.”
Originally, county planners recommended approval of Z-Best’s expansion, but the planning commission asked for the EIR after hearing neighbors’ concerns.
A previous county analysis shows a larger composting area could reduce the odors wafting from the property by altering grinding and turning activities. There is no timeline for when the EIR will be finished and when the Z-Best expansion could move forward.
Tony Burchyns is a staff writer for South Valley Newspapers. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or [email protected].
