Tajiguas ReSource Center Active Treatment System

Tajiguas ReSource Center Active Treatment System

A Final Subsequent EIR (SEIR)(12EIR-00000-00002, SCH #2012041068) and SEIR Revision Letter and Errata dated May 27, 2016 were certified by the Board of Supervisors for the Tajiguas Resource Recovery Project (currently named the ReSource Center) on July 12, 2016 and a SEIR Addendum dated August 11, 2017 (revised October 26, 2017) was considered by the Board of Supervisors for the TRRP on November 14, 2017. The ReSource Center modified operations of the Tajiguas Landfill by the addition of a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF), Dry Fermentation Anaerobic Digestion Facility (ADF) and Composting Management Unit (CMU) to comply with SB1383 to remove organics from landfill disposal, reduce associated greenhouse gas emissions and generate green energy. The ReSource Center was constructed between 2018 – 2021 and commenced operations in 2021. Two additional Addendums have also been prepared dated August 15, 2023 for Proposed Pos-Fire and Odor Management Engineering Design/Project Description Changes and an Addendum dated August 12, 2024 for the ReSource Center Composting Management Unit Advanced Treatment System. With regards to the ReSource Center CMU, the County is covered under the General Waste Discharge Requirements for Composting Operations Order WQ 2020-0012-DWQ (“Compost Order”). The Compost Order identifies that stormwater and compost pile leachate from the CMU operation are wastewater and prohibited from discharge to a surface water body. Since installation of the original CMU runoff collection system, pursuant to the requirements of the Compost Order, the RWQCB has determined that stormwater contacting the CMU surface and water leaching from the curing compost piles is wastewater. The wastewater must be collected and cannot be discharged without treatment or allowed to overflow into the Landfill stormwater drainage system. In addition, mitigation MM TRRP WR-4: Water Quality Monitoring and Corrective Action Plan from the ReSource Center SEIR (12EIR-00000-00002) requires identification of additional water quality best management practices if stormwater sampling indicates runoff from the CMU does not meet applicable water quality standards. To meet the requirements of the Compost Order and MM TRRP WR-4, RRWMD is proposing to install and operate an Active Treatment System (ATS) to treat CMU wastewater and to apply for coverage under the Central Coast Region’s NPDES General Permit for Discharges with Limited Threat to Water Quality Order No. R3-2022-0035 NPDES No. CAG99304 (Limited Threat General Permit) to discharge the treated wastewater to Pila Creek through the Landfill’s North Sedimentation Basin. The ATS would be a package system housed within a dedicated 120-foot by 50-foot (approximately 6,000 square foot) area in an existing disturbed area adjacent to the CMU Wastewater Storage Tank. The pad for the ATS would be leveled and surfaced with concrete or aggregate base. The ATS would be housed in maximum 20-foot-high containers with an integrated human-machine interface, real-time water quality instrumentation, automated process controls, and remote monitoring capabilities and entirely electrically operated. The ATS is anticipated to be designed to treat up to approximately 630 gallons per minute (maximum daily treatment capacity of 0.9 million gallons per day) of CMU runoff from the CMU Wastewater Storage Tank. The ATS would provide several treatment processes designed to meet the effluent limits defined in the Limited Threat General Permit, including the removal of iron, copper, zinc, nitrate, nitrite, ammonia, phosphorus, Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), and bacteria (E. coli). The treated water from the ATS would be monitored for water quality parameters (i.e., pH, turbidity, and oxygen-reduction potential) and then discharged to the North Sedimentation Basin (and ultimately to Pila Creek) via a new pipeline connecting the ATS to the existing CMU storm drain system. If permitted by the RWQCB, the treated water would be used for construction conditioning water and/or dust control as an alternative to discharging to Pila Creek. As a contingency in the event the ATS is not operational by the start of the 2024-25 rainy season, or if the ATS becomes temporarily non-operational, the County is proposing to use one of two existing ridgeline tanks (Tank No. 2) on the west side of the Landfill property (470,000 gallons total storage) to temporarily augment CMU wastewater storage capacity (equivalent to an additional 3.8 inches of rain from the CMU).

unincorporated Santa Barbara County/Gaviota Coast

Santa Barbara

Unincorporated

Santa Barbara