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Kettleman Hills facility reports routine inspections; board hears Kettleman City Foundation building concerns
Summary
Kettleman Hills facility staff reported routine inspections with no violations; supervisors pressed county staff about the Kettleman City Foundation’s use of a foundation-owned building and the possible loss of head start services after a local contractor pulled out.
Kings County received a quarterly operations report April 8 on Kettleman Hills Facility (KHF) that county and facility staff said showed routine regulatory oversight and no compliance violations during the reporting period.
Bob Henry, representing KHF, told the Board of Supervisors the Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) performed an unannounced compliance evaluation in January and found no violations. Henry listed inspections and monitoring activities between Jan. 14 and April 7, including reviews of the final stabilization/treatment unit, bulk and drum storage units, closed landfill units, annual fire and environmental-health inspections and a DTSC board-tour visit. He said no violations or areas of concern were identified in those inspections.
Henry also reviewed upcoming community engagement and outreach: a KHF senior-lunch foundation event on April 10, a visit by the county grand jury on April 24, and an annual community meeting in Kettleman City scheduled for April 29 to review groundwater, air and contingency plans and include a family emergency-preparedness presentation from the county Office of Emergency Services.
Board members raised an operational and community-services concern tied to the Kettleman City Foundation building: the property was deeded with conditions requiring continued use for its intended purposes (including a Head Start program). Henry said the head‑start operator (identified in the meeting as KCAO/Kinsley Action Organization) has moved services to the elementary school and the county has been filling some operating costs; without a replacement occupant to provide the required services and operating revenue, the original owner (the school district) could assert default under the deed and seek to repossess or retake control of the property.
Supervisors asked staff to explore options to keep services in the building, review the deed language and seek other organizations that could operate Head Start or comparable services to maintain compliance with the grant deed. Henry said facility and county staff were actively trying to identify partners and that the building’s operating funds could run out this summer if no new occupant is found.
Motion and vote: The board voted 5-0 to accept the Kettleman Hills facility quarterly report. The clerk recorded a roll call: Joe Neves: yes; Richard Valle: yes; Doug Berbuon: yes; Rusty Robinson: yes; Robert Thayer: yes.
Why it matters: The facility’s routine compliance is central to ongoing hazardous‑waste operations and community environmental monitoring. Separately, the potential loss of services at the Kettleman City Foundation building raises questions about childcare, family-resource access and community meeting space in a rural town that depends on that facility for several public programs.
Ending: County staff said they will continue outreach to identify an occupant or program to satisfy the deed restriction and keep services at the Kettleman City Foundation building; the board asked staff to return with options.
