BERNSON URGES COUNCIL TO DELAY LANDFILL VOTE.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

Citing cancer and other health concerns, Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson urged his colleagues Friday to delay a vote on expansion of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill until an examination of the risks can be completed.

A Daily News story this week detailed the state's push for a study of whether landfills are linked to cancer among faculty at Polytechnic High School in Sun Valley and Towne Avenue Elementary School in Carson.

Bernson said that, in light of the state-requested studies, it's too risky to proceed with the Sunshine landfill before determining its effect on residents and nearby schools. He said the city ordered a health study in 1988 of the communities around Sunshine, but it was never done.

The council is scheduled to vote Oct. 26 on expansion of the landfill as part of a deal that would give the city $4 million a year in franchise fees, including about $2 million a year for the San Fernando Valley.

Under the proposal, the landfill, which was closed in 1991, would be expanded by 194 acres, mostly on top of the old landfill.

``In light of the state of California raising serious concerns about health impacts on children and after significant testimony about health impacts that have taken place at the foot of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill, it would be foolhardy for the city council to give further consideration to the proposed . . . expansion,'' Bernson said in a letter to council members.

The landfill's operator, Browning Ferris Industries, opposes both a delay and the study, saying there are no risks.

``It's totally uncalled for,'' said BFI spokesman Arnie Berghoff, saying the county's operational portion of the landfill is regularly tested without any adverse findings. ``This landfill has clearly been studied and monitored more than any landfill in California.''

BFI attorney Chris Funk of Weston, Benshoof, Rochefort, Rubalcava & MacCuish added the health study requirement was waived by the city in 1989.

City planning staff in later environmental studies also said a health risk assessment was not required, based on expert testimony, said Betsy Lindsay, president of Ultrasystems Environmental Inc. in Irvine, an environmental consulting firm.

But Bernson said, ``Someone in the city let them off the hook.''

Meanwhile, Angelo Bellomo, an environmental consultant, said a coming review by the Los Angeles Unified School District's safety team of 30 schools near landfills probably won't include those around Sunshine because all are more than one-quarter mile away.

Bernson's request for a study comes at a critical point in the negotiations.

The proposal brokered by Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton to give the Valley about $2 million a year is opposed by Bernson and residents as insignificant in light of the tens of millions of dollars the city would save in hauling costs.

``This is just hush money,'' said community activist Walter Prince. ``They'll give it to us hoping we'll all go away.''

Mary Edwards, a spokeswoman for the North Valley Coalition of Concerned Citizens, said the proposal doesn't address what would be a quarter-century intrusion into their neighborhoods. ``It's like, for a couple million a year, you're going to be betrayed.''

Richard Close, chairman of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, which is exploring the Valley's possible secession from the city, said the dump is another example of the city's disregard for the Valley. ``It just seems to me that with something of this magnitude, you don't buy a community off.''

Community members also are angry the plan contains an option to divert some of the money to buy the 1,300-acre Chatsworth Reservoir in West Hills.

``It's a little far away from the people most impacted,'' Edwards said. ``Those who are close by are the ones who will suffer.''

Bernson has long wanted the reservoir to remain as open space, which the staff of the Department of Water and Power recommended Friday. ``I wouldn't sell out Sunshine Canyon to fund the Chatsworth Reservoir.''

City Councilman Michael Feuer said he thinks the city should at least get $6 million for the franchise, with community control over at least $2 million, and $3 million going to a diesel truck conversion program.

Deaton said he made a judgment call and that the Valley's share could be increased.

City and BFI officials say the landfill is needed to avoid a potential financial crisis if Los Angeles can find no other way to dispose of the 900,000 tons of refuse it generates every year.

Bernson said if Sunshine Canyon Landfill is so desperately needed, officials should look at activating all municipal landfills, including those in West Los Angeles.

``I don't think we should be doing landfills anymore, but if it's really that critical, let's think in terms of sharing the pain,'' Bernson said. ``Let's reconsider opening Mission Canyon, let's look at the canyons above Brentwood.''

Reopening the landfill has been vigorously opposed by its neighbors, who say that in combination with the 215-acre county landfill, their lives will be made intolerable.

City officials cite a dump shortage as reason to push the expansion of Sunshine Canyon.

Bradley West Landfill in Sun Valley will close in 2001, and the city's contract with the county for Sunshine Canyon will end in 2003.

If Sunshine Canyon cannot be expanded, the city would have to build transfer stations in the Valley at a cost of up to $12 million, as well as spend $8 million to $12 million a year to haul trash to landfills as far away as Palmdale, Lancaster, Riverside and San Bernardino, said Drew Sones, Bureau of Sanitation assistant director.

Los Angeles is one of the few cities in the state that doesn't charge a waste collection fee.

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Map: Sunshine Canyon Landfill

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