No Sludge Evidence Provided; Mayor Says It's Time to Move On
Menifee Mayor Scott Mann released a statement Tuesday afternoon declaring Menifee Valley "safe" and urging residents to move on af...
http://www.menifee247.com/2013/03/no-sludge-evidence-provided-mayor-says-its-time-to-move-on.html
Menifee Mayor Scott Mann released a statement Tuesday afternoon declaring Menifee Valley "safe" and urging residents to move on after Planning Commissioner Mark Matelko failed to produce documents regarding the application of sludge to agricultural lands in Menifee.
Mann had given Matelko a deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday to produce documents the commissioner said prove the application of biosolids (sludge) on many more sections of Menifee than is shown in Riverside County maps. Matelko and his wife, Janine, have been vocal advocates for additional testing of the soil, alleging there has been ongoing application of sludge on local agricultural lands -- a practice banned in 2001 -- that is a dangerous health threat to residents.
"The deadline for Commissioner Matelko to produce additional sludge records has come and gone," Mann said in a prepared statement. "The City of Menifee stands on the expert testimony provided at the City's Biosolids Workshop on March 5, 2013. Going forward, we know which parcels in the City that permitted Type A sludge was applied for agricultural purposes and we have in our Municipal Code a mechanism for additional soils testing should those areas be developed in the future.
"As previously stated by several regulatory agencies and press accounts, the Menifee Valley is safe -- your homes, schools, and parks are safe and always have been. It is now time to focus our time, energy and resources on other pressing issues, such as improving traffic circulation in our city."
In the March 5 biosolids workshop, several experts from Riverside County and elsewhere testified that there was no health danger to residents from any sludge that may have been applied in years past. That hasn't stopped the Matelkos and other concerned citizens from disputing the experts' testimony, as well as the sludge application map.
Mann had given Matelko a deadline of 5 p.m. Tuesday to produce documents the commissioner said prove the application of biosolids (sludge) on many more sections of Menifee than is shown in Riverside County maps. Matelko and his wife, Janine, have been vocal advocates for additional testing of the soil, alleging there has been ongoing application of sludge on local agricultural lands -- a practice banned in 2001 -- that is a dangerous health threat to residents.
"The deadline for Commissioner Matelko to produce additional sludge records has come and gone," Mann said in a prepared statement. "The City of Menifee stands on the expert testimony provided at the City's Biosolids Workshop on March 5, 2013. Going forward, we know which parcels in the City that permitted Type A sludge was applied for agricultural purposes and we have in our Municipal Code a mechanism for additional soils testing should those areas be developed in the future.
"As previously stated by several regulatory agencies and press accounts, the Menifee Valley is safe -- your homes, schools, and parks are safe and always have been. It is now time to focus our time, energy and resources on other pressing issues, such as improving traffic circulation in our city."
In the March 5 biosolids workshop, several experts from Riverside County and elsewhere testified that there was no health danger to residents from any sludge that may have been applied in years past. That hasn't stopped the Matelkos and other concerned citizens from disputing the experts' testimony, as well as the sludge application map.
Let’s hope the council will in fact move on this time. The sludge zealots will continue to shout into the wind with their unfounded dogma: so be it. Let them have their three minutes and move on.
ReplyDeleteWith his credibility and judgment seriously in question, Planning Commissioner Matelko should resign. Matelko has demonstrated that his personal bias adversely affects his ability to function on the planning commission and therefore should step down.
ReplyDeleteIf he fails to do so then the council, as it has a right to do, should vote to oust him, something Furhman obviously doesn’t have the foresight to do.
I agree 100%. Matelko has to go. Time to put pressure on Furhman to remove hime from the planning commission.
DeleteI don't know why Mr. & Mrs.Matelko failed to produce their written documents proving their claims of illgal sludge dumping..surely, with all their passion on the subject they must have ten years of documents somewhere..After all, I have to keep ten years of receipts for the I.R.S. and I don't feel passionately about the I.R.S. However, I do have a problem with Mayor Scott Mann's prepared statement,"The City of Menifee stands on expert testimony.." Who found these experts? Coldwell Banker? Cenury 21? Since at least two on the council are realtors....just asking?
ReplyDeleteMr. and Mrs. Matelko offered many times to share the records with city council in the presence of sheriff's officials and they were turned down. The city wants the records so they can be destroyed as the records at the County of Riverside were destroyed when the seriousness of all this came to light. The records had been at the county for years and suddenly it was decided that they should be destroyed. I think the Matelko's have done their due diligence and the city has failed the citizens. We were told to have a health dept. to monitor the health of people after the dumping of this toxic material and that has been asked for over and over with no action taken.
ReplyDelete“The city wants the records so they can be destroyed” Just another example of the length the fanatics will use to justify their failure to produce proof of anything significant. The real reason is nothing exists. This tactic allows them to keep waving their arms claiming “I have proof”. The health department monitoring has been misstated; I suggest you go back and re-read that again.
DeleteWhy not share a copy of the records if you are that paranoid? Matelko has no records that prove anything. Time for him to removed from the planning commission.
DeleteDo you have some information about the credentials or legitimacy of the experts or is this just an emotional expression of your inability to grasp what was presented? The insinuation that being a realtor is tantamount to rigging the testimony requires some pretty definitive proof.
ReplyDeletehttp://water.epa.gov/polwaste/wastewater/treatment/biosolids/genqa.cfm
ReplyDeleteTake it from a me. A Menifee resident who works at the Orange County Sanitation District where the biosolids (sludge) originated from. Class A and Class B biosolids are both safe to human health. I sometimes find myself covered in the sh$% at work. Visit the link above and learn something.