AREA LANDFILL FACES FINES FOR DUST; FARMERS CITE DAMAGE TO CROPS.Byline: David Greenberg The creator of this article, or someone who has substantially contributed to it, may have a conflict of interest regarding its subject matter. It may require cleanup to comply with Wikipedia's content policies, particularly neutral point of view. Daily News Staff Writer Tolland Tolland is the name of some places:
The Ventura County Planning Department is considering placing conditions that carry fines on the landfill's permit if operators do not dampen the dust created by trash haulers and grading, which damages nearby crops. ``In the future, if they are chronically in violation, we could impose fines,'' said Robert Laughlin, the Planning Department's commercial and industrial permits manager. Supervisors and nearby farmers have complained that trucks moving faster than the 10 mph limit on the landfill's access road stir up dust that severely damages crops by killing beneficial organisms In agriculture and gardening, a beneficial organism is any organism that benefits the growing process, including insects, arachnids, other animals, plants, bacteria, fungi, viruses, and nematodes. Benefits include pest control, pollination, and maintenance of soil health. that feed on insects Insects See also ants; bees; biology; butterflies; zoology. acarophobia a fear of itching or of the mites or ticks that cause it. aeroscepsy, aeroscepsis perception by means of the air, said to be a function of the antennae of insects. that destroy crops. But Mark Zirbel, a lawyer for the Ventura Regional Sanitation sanitation: see plumbing; sanitary science. District, which owns the landfill between Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. and Fillmore, disputed those claims. ``The landfill is currently operating in compliance with all dust control conditions of its permits,'' he said. ``Their allegations are refuted by independent inspectors. What can I say?'' The county Planning Division, Environmental Health Department and the Air Pollution Control District inspected the site for the report. The district stated in a 1995 environmental impact report that it would ensure dust levels would not increase by more than 4.5 percent as the landfill's permit allowed its daily intake of trash to increase from 135 to 1,500 tons. George Kimball, who grows avocados on a 100-acre parcel a half-mile away, said landfill operations continue to shower his crops with dust even through construction was recently completed on a 1 million-cubic-yard basin to hold trash. He estimated it will cost $30,000, or $300 an acre, to spray his land with pesticides should the beneficial insects Beneficial Insects are any of a number of species of insects that perform valued services like pollination and pest control. The concept of beneficial is subjective and only arises in light of desired outcomes from a human perspective. die. ``The operators are intruders in an agricultural area,'' Kimball said. ``They've come in and added an additional burden to the farming. Before I went out of business, I'd probably sue them.'' |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion