Tensions are flaring anew in Kettleman City over Waste Management's landfill expansion proposal as the county moves to wrap up a community comment process that protesters say is unfair and illegal.

Dozens of residents, their supporters and activists converged outside the town's community center and marched into the building on a frigid Saturday morning to protest a roundtable meeting designed to gather community concerns.

It was the first of a series of meetings scheduled to be held -- with little notice to the community -- over the next week in Kettleman City. County-hired consultants are in a hurry to gather community reaction. Pressed by a county-imposed deadline of Jan. 15, consultants are cramming four meetings into an 11-day period as the last stage of the Local Assessment Committee process. The committee is charged with negotiating with the trash-disposal giant for compensation for its landfill expansion. Many in the farmworker community oppose the expansion.

The consultants and three committee members were met by nearly 60 protesters when they started the meeting. Protesters, some of them children, chanted in Spanish "What do we want?" A replying chorus cried, "Justice!" "When?" they continued. "Today!" others chanted back.

"Si, se puede! Si, se puede! (Yes, we can! Yes, we can!" a rallying cry resounded. Some of them marched in with handwritten signs bearing messages like "Kettleman City is not your trash can" and "No more racist act, Kings County."

Maricela Mares-Alatorre, a Kettleman City resident who leads a grass-roots group called El Pueblo Para El Aire y Agua Limpio (People for Clean Air and Water), maintained that the committee is violating state law because the process -- with no Latino representation -- neglects the people who are most affected by the landfill: Kettleman City and Avenal residents.

"We feel that the LAC process is illegal. They've been meeting for three years, and we've been shut out of the process," Mares-Alatorre said. "They don't have any Latino representation, even though 92 percent of the community is Latino and Kings County is 52 percent Latino. We don't want to participate in a committee that promotes that kind of (inequity)."

Alvaro Preciado of Avenal joined the protest, saying his community, just10 miles away from the landfill, has received little public notice from the county.

"I've never received any letters about meetings in Kettleman City," Preciado said. "Avenal is just as vulnerable as Kettleman City."

Waste Management proposes to expand the existing hazardous waste landfill by 11 acres and build a new 64-acre landfill. The company says the project is necessary because it will extend the Kettleman Hills facility's hazardous waste capacity by 32 years.

First formed in 2005, the committee has been meeting each month since April, but the seven-member advisory body has yet to come up with any draft recommendations. With less than a month left in the process, the independent consultants -- hired last month by the county in response to a public outcry -- are finally seeking direct input from Kettleman City residents, especially those who oppose the landfill project.

"Our job is to make sure that the LAC does the best job that they can," said John Boogaert, a co-principal of Boogaert and Noll, a firm hired by the county to facilitate community outreach. "All we're trying to do is to gather up ideas from the residents to make things better, make it a better place to live."

But with the opponents boycotting the meeting, the process is at a virtual impasse. Only a handful of residents are left to engage in a dialogue.

On Saturday, the protesters walked in, announced a list of demands, including disbanding the current LAC and starting the process over, then walked out. They returned in a few minutes with another demand that the county provide bus transportation for them to attend Thursday's LAC meeting in Hanford. As the consultants promised to do their best, they left vowing to protest again at the second community meeting set for today.

After the stormy half-hour, the meeting went on in an unusually amicable manner. At least 10 residents stayed to participate in the meeting where they mainly complained about the town's water quality.

"Considering the amount we pay, the smell of our water is horrible. It smells like chlorine," said Ynez Chavez, 29. "You can't cook with it. I don't even want to taste it because I don't even want to take a shower in it." Chavez said the residents pay at least $75 a month for the water service, plus about $30-35 they spend buying bottled water.

"If (the Waste Management project) gets passed, they should pay a good portion of our bills," Chavez said.

Yesenia Ayala, a 20-year-old preschool teacher, said, "The general perception -- whether it's true or not -- is that Waste Management is to blame for the poor air and water quality in Kettleman City."

Consultant Douglas Noll suggested the county bring in an independent expert to examine the correlation between Waste Management's operation and water and air quality of the area. Committee member Jim Verboon suggested money be given to the community so it can decide who it wants to hire.

Noll said residents' belief that the county's permitting process is biased in favor of Waste Management projects stems from "lack of communication." He suggested Kettleman City bring in an ombudsman to act as a liaison between residents, Waste Management and county officials, and the residents nodded their approval of the idea.

Ayala found the meeting useful.

"I like the fact that they heard some of my concerns. Hopefully, they won't just keep them on their notepads but actually take them back to the county," Ayala said.

Ayala sympathizes with the opposition.

"They are doing a good job getting the community out. I'm with them," Ayala said. "But I just wanted to stay and listen to what these people had to say rather than shutting them out. As a resident, I also want to be heard."

Organizers of the meeting said they were pleased with the turnout.

"It's a good start. It's actually better than I expected," Noll said after the meeting. "There was no big surprise about the protesters. I was gratified that there were some people who wanted to stick around and share their concerns. And that's what we're here to do -- to listen."

Verboon said he was taken aback by the protest. But he said was also encouraged by the handful of residents who decided to stay and discuss issues at the meeting.

"I was surprised at the animosity that seems to exist, but I guess that's because they feel ignored," said Verboon, a Kings County farmer. "I'm satisfied that we have this group here telling us from their heart what they think the problems are. What we're here to do is to try to resolve them."

But the issues are deep rooted.

Kettleman City, a town of 1,500, is about 3.5 miles from Waste Management's 474-acre landfill operation -- one of the largest toxic waste repositories in the country. The company buries the hazardous waste materials under successive layers of dirt, and landfills are lined with hard plastic to prevent leakage into the soil. Company officials say that the geology of the region is such that, if there was a leakage, it would percolate into rock layers unconnected to Kettleman City's water supply, making it an ideal location.

Some residents are still worried about more than 600 trucks hauling waste going through their neighborhood on an average day.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency previously found no evidence that the community's public health is adversely affected by the landfills.

But opponents simply don't buy it. For years, residents have complained of higher rates of asthma and cancer rates as well as cases of cleft palate among babies.

But the impoverished community does benefit from a six-figure annual settlement fund and other donations liberally made by Waste Management, which, like any other major tax revenue contributor in the county, works at being a good neighbor. The company's contributions divide the community; people like Aletha Ware, a Kettleman City Community Service District board member, argue the town owes much of its progress to Waste Management, but critics say the company is doing what it does to influence people's opinions.

The fact that Ware supports Waste Management and sits on the committee is another reason opponents don't like the composition of the committee.

However, as far as the consultants are concerned, disbanding the committee is out of the question.

"We don't have the power to disband the LAC or make recommendations about having meetings out here, although I think the LAC is open to doing that," Noll said. "What we can control, we try to work on it. What we can't control, we'll pass the demands onto the LAC and the board of supervisors -- people who can affect that."

The protesters' demands aren't anything new.

Opposition groups, led by San Francisco-based Greenaction and Center for Race, Poverty and the Environment, have been crying foul over the LAC's composition since earlier this year.

To remedy the situation, the county shifted some positions within the committee so that opposition groups could apply. But they have refused to do that, saying the process is already rigged.

The county recently hired Boogaert and Noll specifically to give Kettleman City residents more voice, but opposition groups were skeptical.

Boycotting the process might end up work against their cause, Noll said.

"If the community needs more time, I'm totally for it," Noll said. "But if the people just walk in and walk out and don't engage, ... there's no point in continuing."

The opposition groups also accuse the consultants of having ties to Waste Management.

Noll acknowledged a professional relationship with Jan Kahn, a Hanford attorney who represents Waste Management, but denied any direct association to the company.

LAC roundtable meetings

Today, 6-8 p.m. Kettleman City Community Center. On air quality.

Saturday, 4-6 p.m. Kettleman City Community Center. On noise and traffic. (Subject to change; consultants are arranging different site and time based on some residents' request).

Tuesday, Dec. 16, 6-9 p.m. Kettleman City Community Center. On quality of life.

Information: Douglas Noll, John Boogaert, 800-778-5457.

The reporter can be reached at 583-2429.

(Dec. 9, 2008)