Anilrgowda

VISTA ---- A local company's plan to operate a prototype of a renewable energy plant, designed to transform plant waste into electricity inside a south Vista warehouse, will go before the city's Planning Commission on Tuesday.

Nicknamed "Project Kittyhawk," the energy-producing machinery is already under construction at 1390 Engineer St. It's the brainchild of Anthony Arand, a self-described environmentalist and the chief executive officer of Envirepel Energy Inc.
Arand said Thursday that the proposed 2-megawatt "test cell" will demonstrate that his biomass technology is viable and could be utilized at larger sites, such as landfills, to convert waste to electricity.

"We have an opportunity to show first-hand that this can be done clean, green and environmentally friendly," he said.

The project, which requires a special-use permit, has won the recommendation of city staff members, but raised eyebrows at Vista Irrigation District headquarters, across the street from the proposed site.

Irrigation District General Manager John Amodeo said Thursday that allowing the project at that site would essentially turn his 100 employees into "guinea pigs" for an untested process.

"I have a feeling 100 people will be upset if the Planning Commission approves this without further study," Amodeo added.

In a letter to the city, dated Nov. 6, Amodeo said that "since this is by design an experimental facility, the operators don't really know how much noise, odor, and emissions are going to be produced."

Arand, the Envirepel chief, said he is hoping to sit down with Irrigation District officials later this month to better explain the technology and the monitoring that will be required by the city, if the special-use permit is approved.

"When it comes to regulatory standards, we're setting new standards for cleanliness, not breaking existing standards," Arand said.

He has said previously that his technology works like a large Dutch oven: green waste is heated in a ceramic chamber to produce methane gas. The gas is then burned to produce energy.

While the city's zoning generally permits any industrial use on the site with a special-use permit, one exception is for uses that involve incineration.

According to a city report, Envirepel's method of energy production does not meet the Environmental Protection Agency's definition of incineration, which describes the raw burning of waste.

Envirepel's system uses a process that is more accurately classified as "gasification," the report states.

But Amodeo called that reasoning "sleight of hand."

"You take stuff and you burn it, but you're not incinerating it? I'm missing something here," Amodeo said. "This is in violation of the city's zoning."

City staff members have recommended several conditions for the project's approval, including third-party monitoring of noise and emissions. Envirepel would also be required to return in 18 months for permit renewal and to cease operations of the test cell within five years.

"The project includes new technology that would be stringently monitored to ensure that it generates very low emissions," a city report states.

In May, Arand pitched the project to South Vista Communities, a community group for residents south of Highway 78. About 40 people attended. Some praised Arand's vision, but others said they would not support an experiment near their homes.

The Planning Commission will meet at 7 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 600 Eucalyptus Ave.