COMPANY MODIFIES COMPOSTING PLANT PROPOSAL.

Byline: Jim Skeen Daily News Staff Writer

Attempting to mollify its critics, a company proposing a sewer sludge composting plant near Antelope Acres has modified its design to include windscreens and protective berms.

But the revised plans for BioGro's sludge operation at Avenue A at 140th Street West don't provide for completely enclosing the operation - something critics had sought.

``There's nothing there. I don't see much there,'' said Lyle Talbot, a member of Desert Citizens Against Pollution, one of the groups opposed to the project.

Company officials did not return calls. In previous interviews, company officials said they were attempting to develop a proposal that would alleviate concerns raised by the community.

According to documents submitted to Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, BioGro is proposing to build berms or windscreens on the north and south sides of the plant; post a $5 million bond to guarantee maintenance; submit a dust monitoring plan; establish an ``odor hotline''; and provide $10,000 annually in grants or compost to a local group geared toward fighting dust.

A division of Maryland-based Wheelabrator Clean Water Systems Inc., BioGro wants to pile sewage sludge and grass clippings or other plant waste into windows 18 feet wide, 7 feet high and up to 850 feet long on 67 acres between avenues A and B and 140th and 150th streets west.

Opponents say sewer sludge contains industrial chemicals, including cancer-causing substances, that can be carried great distances by wind. Critics want the project either canceled outright or completely enclosed.

Backers of the project say it would provide a low-cost way of recycling and would help Los Angeles County meet state-mandated goals of reducing the waste going into landfills.

In a report released last month, Los Angeles County health officials say the sludge composting plant proposed at a west Antelope Valley farm does not constitute a health hazard.

The plant will cause odors but does not pose a risk to the region's groundwater and is unlikely to spread contaminants by wind, said the report prepared by Mark Finucane, director of the county Health Services Department.

Project opponents, who include local environmentalists and the Rosamond Community Services District, say the county report's findings minimize the true dangers posed by the composting plant and contend that contamination could seep into well water or that the valley's gusty winds would spread foul odors and disease-carrying debris.

Project opponents point to the Feb. 27 windstorm, in which gusts reached 86 mph in the Antelope Valley, as an example of a potential danger.

BioGro officials say enclosing the plant would not be practical, saying it would cost $78.6 million.

Opponents say the real cost is between $44.1 million and $53 million.