Palatable sludge

Controversial opinion: We shouldn’t truck our waste to another county. 

I’m talking about biosolids. Don’t know what that is? Well, you’re not alone! It’s also called treated sewage sludge. Sounds gross. Still confused? Well, it’s what’s left after they—the big “they”—pull the water out of our wastewater. Turns out, they don’t always dispose of that whatever-you-want-to-call-it here. 

All we—that’s the small “we”—do is poop and flush! Did you ever stop to think about what happens to it?

The city of San Luis Obispo, for instance, trucks up to 4,000 tons of biosolids per year down to Santa Maria. Other places send theirs “all the way to the Central Valley,” according Chris Lehman, SLO’s deputy director overseeing wastewater. And others still hit the local landfills.

As experts will tell you, it’s not all shit! That biosolid stuff also includes chemicals found in things like sunscreen and other lotions, forever chemicals like PFAS, pharmaceutical drugs, and other toxic things that become part of our waste stream. 

And our San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors has been kicking the sludge can down the road for almost 30 years. Some jurisdictions allow that waste to be used as a soil amendment on farm fields. But not this place! There’s a moratorium on that kind of use, thanks to folks like David Broadwater, who has been fighting against that kind of amending for 30 years, too. And the supes just extended the ban. 

Broadwater’s even pissed off at the nerve of county officials to use the term biosolids! Who knew poop could inspire such pissing and moaning! 

“Biosolids, what the hell is that? I guess I’m a biosolid. You’re a biosolid,” he said. “That’s public relations terminology that was invented by the nationwide organization that represents the country’s sewage plants.”

Yes, even sewage plants need good public relations! Because poop stinks! 

In case you’re even slightly curious, the Water Environment Federation had a contest in 1991 to find a more palatable term for sewage sludge. Palatable sludge! I’m a biolsolid dying of unstoppable adolescent giggles. 

In 1998, some waste management organization had to gall to apply to dispose 50,000 tons of sewage sludge—biosolids—on a San Miguel alfalfa farm and people lost their minds. Not because of poop, but because of all the other solids. 

The potential for contaminating the nearby Estrella and Salinas rivers was too much, yada yada yada, we’ve had a ban on that kind of thing since 2004. 

In a world where AI could probably write this slop I’m typing right now, we don’t have the technology to separate the contaminants from the shit? 

Actually, yes, the tech exists, and the result is apparently sold in bagged form to the public for home use. Doing that here, my friends, would require significant capital investment at existing wastewater treatment plants—of course. 

The city of SLO, according to Lehman, is on the path to doing exactly that. It’s feasible in the next five to 10 years “if a path for land application were identified.” 

So, get to work, people. Put those heads together, and let’s keep biosolids local! 

I’d also like to keep housing local! 

And Grover Beach does too. It’s just that some of the city’s residents think that enough is enough with the housing already! I mean, come on, the city has practically hit the goals of its Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for the 2020-28 cycle. 

That state-issued number of housing units that localities should try to stimulate into existence through policy and incentives runs in eight-year increments. The next cycle’s numbers might be double what they are now. The state said Grover Beach needed to build at least 369 housing units, and 361 have been built since 2020 with more on the horizon.

“Congratulations, we’ve met our goal, we’re there,” Kelvin Coveduck said. “Just because you met your goal doesn’t mean you can turn builders down, but it means you can pump the brakes on that bus and use the control that you have.”

He wants the city to pump the brakes on development along Grand Avenue that he and others deem too tall, too dense, and too much. Through Save Grover Beach, Coveduck and others have initiated a proposed ballot measure to further restrict the city’s building heights and mandate developers to set aside a higher percentage of their residential developments for commercial use. 

This group, like other iterations of save-the-city groups before it that have proposed ballot measures to try to wrangle in an “out of control” city staff, includes disgruntled ex-council member Debbie Peterson. No surprises there. I’m sure there’s a book in the works about this whole thing. 

But the city isn’t sure how this potential ballot measure, which doesn’t have the signatures it needs just yet, could impact Grover Beach’s ability to meet its housing goals. 

“Housing law mandates that if we lower heights, effectively ‘downzoning,’ we may have to plan for and place that density in another part of our community,” Community Development Director Megan Martin said. 

So, four-story apartment-style buildings in single-family residential neighborhoods rather than downtown, where the taller buildings are supposed to be? Cue another potential ballot measure! 

Martin added that RHNA numbers are basically the bare minimum of housing that’s needed, “not a maximum limit.” ∆

The Shredder’s reached the biosolids limit. Send trucks to shredder@newtimesslo.com.

This article appears in April 2-9, 2026.