Recommendation to request City Manager to work with the Energy Resources Department to schedule a study session for the City Council to review the operation of the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility (SERRF). The scope of the study session should include reviews of SERRF’s incineration process, operational costs, energy production, recycling capabilities, greenhouse gas emissions, and possible alternatives.
Thank you. Next is item 20. Item 20 Communication from Councilman Alston. Councilmember Oranga recommendation to require City Manager to work with the Energy Resources Department to schedule a study session to review the operation of the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility. Councilman Austin. Thank you so much. And I want to, first of all, thank our Councilmember Jurado for signing on this very important item for the Southeast Resource Recovery Facility, also known to serve as one of two facilities, actually still of its kind, still operating in the state, was first opened in 1988 and Phillips facility services long beaches refuse burning approximately 275,000 tons of solid waste each year, converting this waste into energy. This is specifically timely because there is a bill HB 1857 that will remove diversion credits from the city that we receive from landfill avoidance. And this critic accounts for about 10% of our diversion goals currently. And as 2024 approaches, our council and residents, I believe, should be really informed on service operations and its impacts to help determine the Phillips facility's future. For this reason, I'm requesting a study session to better understand the operational, environmental and financial impacts of surf, its effectiveness compared to other alternative methods of waste management and its viability for continued use. And again, I'd like to thank Councilmember Urunga for helping me bring this forward, but also look forward to a robust conversation with the community and and a great staff report. Hopefully when this comes back. And so I ask for your support. Thank you, Councilman Miranda. But thank you, Councilmember, asking for including me in this very important item. It's new to me in terms of my district. I just the through redistricting as it is now in my district. And I think it's important that we revisit serve to get a better handle for especially my residents in terms of what it actually does and how it operates in the city of Long Beach and how we can make some improvements if needed to or whatever. The report comes back with only. I'm totally encouraged by the fact that we're going to be looking into this. There's a lot of issues. Timing has changed. I mean, this facility is what, over 20 years old or so, whether it's I mean, 88 year old came to my son's age, got to look at, you know, it's time that we need to revisit. There's a lot of trash out there, of course, a lot of other types of trash that are that is accumulating. And now we're looking at trying to look at how we can do green waste and serve, might have a play in that disposal as well. So I'm looking forward to that report. And as a consumer also said, a robust discussion about this. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Allen. Yes, I thank you, Vice Mayor. This is an interesting item and a complicated issue. And as chair of the Climate Action Environment Committee, our committee back in August of 2021 requested a presentation on Sur Suture, and we were expecting a discussion on options this year. Also, given that this facility is now part of Councilmember Year Ranges District, I think it would be beneficial to hold a study session for him as well, as well as all of us on council and understanding. Service, environment. Impact. Cost and effectiveness. Compared to the other forms of waste management. Management is also going to be important for us to consider. I'm happy to look into this at a committee level as we have already been working on this or discussed this at the council level. If my colleagues, my colleagues. So decide. Thank you. Thank you, Counsel Mungo. Thank you. I always am a big supporter of Cerf, and I think that the more people that know about it and know what it does to save us emissions, the better. Thank you. Thank you, Councilman Austin. Thank you. And I just want to just to reemphasize that we brought this item forward because I thought it was very important to obviously study these at committee levels. And we have committees that that do this work and we encourage you to continue to do that. But it's a timeliness issue with legislation pending. We've also had legislation that has really put us in a situation where we we've had to rethink, sir, from, you know, what are we doing with our organic waste? We won't be able to use that facility for organic waste moving forward. And so I think it's important that we have this public study session. We've heard from some some members of the public who who really, really want to get this on the agenda to understand this. And I think if we have a comfortable place where everybody is understanding where this is, what understanding this facility and is on the same page in terms of getting the information, we will be in a better position to take some positions. There could be positions taken then state legislation committee. There could be positions taken. And Councilmember Allen, your committee on climate, this affects so many aspects of our our work. And I know there is a movement we've already taken positions as a council to to move toward zero waste. All of that is relevant to this conversation related to serve. So again, I hope to have your support on this item. Thank you. I'll just add my comments here. I think, you know, we've talked about surf a lot over the years and it's certainly time for a fresh conversation. I think committees can also go deep, you know, have a little bit more time to, you know, evaluate and make recommendations to the council as well. And I also think, you know, technology has probably changed since the time all of us joined the council. I'm really interested in anaerobic digestion. I'm interested in, you know, what maintains jobs. And I also also know that we need to keep an eye on what other cities are doing around the world, around waste. So I think I think it's time for a study session. And I think going that doesn't stop I think the committee from sort of owning recommendations around it, you know, taking a deeper dove. So I think this is a both and so is any public comment. I see one. Dave Shukla. Good evening. Two years ago, by telephonic correspondence, I. Thank you. Two years ago, by telephonic correspondence, I asked for the job to run, sir, because it's hard for me to imagine more perverse incentives for a city that sells oil to pay for things, to also have a scheme to make money or electricity from burning fed things. Ultimately, I mean, it's a kind of perverse closed loop of endless profit accumulation as long as we can pull the stuff up as fast as possible. And that is something that not only the global atmosphere, but the local soil and the local population is is is bearing in terms of pollution impacts. And then there's the whole question of, you know, what happens to the ashes ultimately? As a Hindu, I care about that. It's important to note, as someone who helped S.B. 100 get passed, that green waste or waste slurry, the kind of value stream that folks are looking to get out of anaerobic digestion. That's that's not a clean energy source. And it's something that like in the case of Phenix, you're going to create another perverse incentive for municipal dependency. But the broader kind of question, just from a physical perspective, is how many times is the port going to build this city out? I mean, it bailed it out of the recession of the nineties when the Navy left. But if you take the one site where you want to pipe in the electricity and just kind of wrap it up around this one facility, you may buy yourself out of things that are happening literally next week, going to be in the Bay Area talking to folks about offshore wind. And to be perfectly honest, I mean, if the city doesn't want those opportunities, you don't want clean energy, you want to keep trying to make money off of selling oil. It may be time to admit defeat in my hometown and help all the other coastal cities in California eat your fucking lunch. Thank you. Members, please cast your vote. Councilwoman Mango can. The motion is carried.