The San Fernando Valley is on track to become home to one of thenation's largest garbage dumps after Los Angeles County supervisorsvoted Tuesday to merge two Sunshine Canyon Landfill sites into a1,528-acre megadump.
The board's 3-2 vote allows Browning-Ferris Industries to run itsside-by-side dumps -- one in the unincorporated county, the other inGranada Hills -- as a single operation until 2036. SupervisorsMichael D. Antonovich and Zev Yaroslavsky, who both represent theValley, cast the dissenting votes.
Under the controversial deal, the county will receive $65 millionin fees to pay for environmental and recycling programs and toaddress traffic concerns. More stringent environmental, monitoringand reporting conditions also will be imposed.
But the plan -- which now heads to the City Council for approval -- drew outraged protests from longtime critics, who decried the lackof a cap on capacity and the length of the operating contract.
'As far as I'm concerned, it's one more time they've shafted thecommunity,' said Wayde Hunter, president of the North ValleyCoalition, which has opposed the deal and advocates closing thelandfill much earlier.
'It's pretty typical of the Board of Supervisors. They have nocompassion for anybody.'
Jan Chatten-Brown, an attorney who represents the North ValleyCoalition, the Teamsters Union and state and national environmentalgroups, noted that BFI could dump as much as 147 million tons oftrash at the site -- far more than the 90 million tons approved inthe early 1990s -- unless a cap is imposed.
'That is far in excess of what was represented to the communitywhen this was previously approved,' Chatten-Brown said.
Greg Loughnane, BFI's district manager, said the 147-million-tonfigure is merely an estimate and that the landfill has always hadapproval to reach a certain elevation, not a maximum tonnage.
BFI had argued that merging the sites would help it run thelandfill more efficiently with a single set of equipment andgoverning rules and a single daily disposal area.
'We are pleased that they saw things the way we did in creating apositive -- not only in terms of a more efficient landfill, but apositive for the community in terms of the benefits described,including $60 million for the community and environmental programs,'Loughnane said.
Chatten-Brown did praise some of the provisions imposed --including more stringent environmental conditions and alternativefuel vehicles -- as 'major, major victories that frankly would neverhave happened if there hadn't been broad coalition support.'
Although city and county officials have long anticipated that thetwo landfills would be merged, the county Planning Commission inNovember rejected the plan. Members cited concerns about trafficfrom trash trucks, the shortage of recycling facilities and the lackof a guaranteed closure date.
BFI appealed to the supervisors.
At the time, Granada Hills activists said the plan wouldeliminate some of the strict requirements imposed by the city, andthey wanted a guarantee that the landfill would close in 2016 andthat a long-term insurance plan be put in place in case the landfillleaks in the future.
In a letter read to the supervisors, U.S. Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Sherman Oaks, noted that the landfill is located near the CaliforniaAqueduct, which supplies most of the water in Southern California,and two major earthquake faults.
'The possibility of a landfill failure is very real and will havedisastrous public health consequences,' Sherman wrote. 'In the SanFernando Valley, cleanup costs could easily exceed $100 million.'
Sherman said insurance should be maintained on the landfillbeyond 30 years and he's requested the U.S. GovernmentAccountability Office to determine the risk taxpayers could face ifa large earthquake were to rupture the landfill's liners, pollutingSouthern California's water supply.
Residents near the landfill have long complained about leakyliners and blowing trash. Some believe they have contracted cancerand respiratory ailments from pollutants in the air and water.
In a letter read to the supervisors, North Valley Coalitionmember Mary Edwards wrote that she has fought the expansion of thelandfill for decades, but has contracted bone cancer. 'I naivelythought that no one would site a giant landfill next to the largestwater supply in the United States,' Edwards wrote. 'I never believeda corporation could influence those I believed were thoughtfulelected officials who would never approve such a project.
'I soon found out the bottom line of the corporation and that itwould be aggressively pursued at the expense of our community.'
Hunter, president of the coalition, said merging the dumps raisesother safety concerns.
'The county liner is leaking,' Hunter said. 'That bridge area wasthe one way to detect that leakage. Now they will cover it up withtrash, so finally all of any leakage coming down will end up in thecity first.'
County sources said they believed the three other supervisorsvoted for the plan because they have landfills in their owndistricts and recognize the need for more landfill space in thecounty and the potential expense of various other options underconsideration.
But Antonovich said Valley residents have been promised in thepast that the landfill will eventually close and other options willbe sought to deal with the region's trash.
'They are justifiably alarmed over the high levels of cancerrates some neighborhoods have had,' Antonovich said. 'Furthermore,they are quite frustrated over the false assurances given from timeto time over the last 48 years. Having some time frame for itsclosure is important.'
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