Recycler May Get 3 Years to Move

Despite complaints from beleaguered residents, a Ventura County judge said Monday he may give a Ventura compost plant up to three years to relocate.

Superior Court Judge Frederick Bysshe said he sympathized with neighbors who must live with odors from the Cal Wood Recycling plant but said he also had to consider the lengthy permitting

and environmental review process involved in moving the facility.

The plant, which is on the north side of the Santa Clara River in Ventura and handles the city’s yard waste, has been the subject of complaints for years. The affected homeowners live on the

river’s south bank in Oxnard, downwind from the plant.

A study last year concluded that the plant’s wood chip piles have a high potential for producing “nuisance odors” even in low concentrations.

As part of an earlier settlement with the county, the recycling company agreed to relocate the compost operation to an agricultural area near Camarillo, but no date has been set for the

move.