Water district wins EPA award

The Las Virgenes Municipal Water District and the Triunfo Sanitation District won the 2006 National Clean Water Act Recognition Awards Program for outstanding biosolids management.

The national award was presented to David Lippman, water district director of facilities and operations, and Carlos Reyes, operations manager, by Michael Shapiro, deputy assistant administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The two districts, which share sanitation operations, were honored for a program that has resulted in a steady increase in the usage of soil amendment, or compost, to fertilize landscaping.

The Calabasas Rancho/Las Virgenes Composting Facility produces 12,000 cubic yards of compost each year, Lippman said.

The selection was based on the agency's "comprehensive, multifaceted biosolids project outreach and education program," the agency said in a statement.

Compost is given to residents free each Saturday at the Calabasas facility.

Recipients are required to bring their own containers and haul the fertilizer themselves. Lippman advises residents to bring trash cans and shovels, and if it is hauled away in a truck, the compost should be covered, he said.

Commercial customers must pay $8 per cubic yard for their compost, but it can be repackaged and sold at garden stores for a profit, Lippman said.

Sometimes coupons for gardening gloves are offered to residents who haul away compost. After three visits to the facility, customers get a free gardening pail to go along with their gloves.

The award also recognized the district's public outreach program to schools and other groups, said Jeff Reinhardt, district's customer service and public affairs manager.