Huntington Beach Residents Take To The Streets -- And Hold Their Noses -- To Protest OC Trash Processing Plant
HUNTINGTON BEACH (CBSLA.com) — Huntington Beach residents on Thursday took to the streets to protest what they call a sicking business -- a trash processing plant.
"While you are making money, we are getting sick!," they chanted.
KCAL9's Stacey Butler reported from the protest and spoke to residents who are fed up with the foul odors emanating from the plant.
Hundreds of the residents are members of the Ocean View School District.
They marched past Rainbow Environmental Services.
"The community has stated very clearly today that they want full, 100 percent enclosure," said Gina Clayton Tarvin with the Ocean View School District.
They want enclosure of the massive transfer station.
The angry protesters said the nauseating and overpowering smells waft into the Oak View Elementary School as well as nearby homes.
"I'm glad they do because that's what we're going to do, we have committed to that," said Sue Gordon with Rainbow Environmental Services. "And we are going to do that by December 1, 2017."
Butler said many of the protesters weren't convinced. They told Butler they will continue to protest until they see, and smell, change.
"I don't believe them, they said they were gonna enclose it in 2009," said Margaret Friedman, an Oak Vew teacher. "They need to be accountable, it needs to be verifiable, they need to show us they're going to hire and have the most state-of-the-art filtration system."
Huntington Beach resident Victor Valladares believes Rainbow is trying.
"Right now, what people do not know," Valladares said, "the mitigation efforts that they're doing. spraying chemicals in the air to try to reduce the stench."
Protesters said they are eager to make their grievances heard at an Air Quality Management District (AQMD) hearing in Huntington Beach on November 7.
