BIOHAZARD BAGS TAKEN TO LANDFILL.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

More than 200 bags designated for untreated medical waste have been dumped in Sunshine Canyon Landfill over the past 18 months, but county officials said they usually never knew what was actually inside because of a shortage of state inspectors to check them.

Los Angeles County inspectors have found 222 red bags designed for biohazards since September 2002, in trash bound for Sunshine Canyon Landfill, one of the most stringently regulated and closely watched dumps in the state.

County inspectors estimated that 95 percent of the red bags contained only trash but said they could have held blood, human tissue or body parts. They don't know for sure, because county rules prohibit inspectors or landfill workers from opening the bags.

``The community gets up in arms about the permit being violated because they are accepting medical waste at Sunshine Canyon,'' said Richard Lange, Los Angeles County's lead health and safety inspector at the landfill. ``All I can tell them is, I can't tell you (what's in the bags) because I can't open the bags.''

Officials with the state Department of Health Services say they have only two medical-waste inspectors for all of Southern California, so were able to respond in person to just 11 of the 222 incidents at Sunshine Canyon. They found biohazards in two bags, and regular trash in the nine others.

However, their records show they advised Sunshine Canyon workers by phone or in person 195 times between July 2002 and March 2004. State officials said they can authorize a county landfill inspector or employee to open the bags.

``Anytime a suspected red bag is reported they are in contact with my staff in Los Angeles, they discuss it in detail. They discuss what was found and make an assessment right there,'' said Ron Pilorin, chief of the medical waste management branch.

The dumping permit issued by county regulators acknowledges the possibility that untreated red bags might slip in with the 6,600 tons of trash delivered each day. It stipulates that red bags should be buried along with the day's trash.

Officials say the red bags are sometimes ripped or are transparent, so the on-site county inspector and Sunshine Canyon Landfill managers can determine whether the contents are just trash.

When the contents cannot be determined, the bag is buried beneath 9 inches of soil. It's safer to bury a red bag rather than risk worker exposure by moving it to another location, Lange said.

The procedure works just fine, said Greg Loughnane, district manager for Browning Ferris Industries, which operates Sunshine Canyon Landfill.

``When you consider a bag here and there in over 6,600 tons a day, it does occasionally happen,'' Loughnane said. ``There's a reason we put liners in landfills.''

But most times the red bags are misused, Lange said. A San Fernando Valley school was placing garbage in red biohazard bags and a church secretary ordered the biohazard bags for trash collection because she thought they were attractive.

Landfill watchdogs, who already are concerned about possible health risks at the dump, are raising questions about the handling of medical waste. They have scheduled a meeting for tonight to discuss the issue.

``You don't know what's in a bag from a medical facility,'' said Mary Edwards of the North Valley Coalition. ``This is supposed to be a municipal landfill and it's not supposed to take anything hazardous.''

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

IF YOU GO:

The Sunshine Landfill Citizen Advisory Committee will meet at 6:30 tonight at the dump, 14747 San Fernando Road, Granada Hills.

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