BRADLEY LANDFILL HAHN, PADILLA VOW TO OPPOSE 3-YEAR EXTENSION.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

The owner of Bradley Solid Waste Landfill in Sun Valley - set to close in about a year - has asked the city to increase the dump's capacity by about 10 percent and allow it to operate at least three extra years, city officials said Friday.

The July 5 application by Waste Management Inc., a Houston-based company, to raise the landfill an additional 43 feet faces stiff opposition, however, from Mayor James Hahn and from City Council President Alex Padilla, who represents communities near the landfill.

In a joint letter released Friday, Hahn and Padilla - sensitive to the controversy over the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills - said the request threatens the community's quality of life and should be rejected. They requested that Planning Director Con Howe require a full environmental review of the project and hold public hearings.

``The Bradley Landfill continues to negatively impact the quality of life and property values of residents and businesses who reside within this highly developed section of the San Fernando Valley,'' the letter states.

Padilla said the Northeast Valley historically has gotten its unfair share of facilities potentially hazardous to surrounding neighborhoods, from pipelines to landfills.

``Bradley Landfill was approved for a certain lifetime and capacity and now it's time for it to close,'' Padilla said.

``I know where the community stands on it. It's a no-brainer.''

Tony Alcala, a Sun Valley resident and community advocate, called the company's proposal ``a bunch of baloney.''

``I'll get all the community up in arms. It's appalling to me,'' Alcala said. ``When it's new schools or parks, they oppose them. But when it's dumps or whatever, there they go. That's pure discrimination to a community.

``We have to stop being the garbage site for the whole city.''

Howe, the city's planning director, said he had not received the letter by Friday afternoon, but said there would be a public review process. Associate zoning administrator Emily Gabel said the city already has asked the company for more environmental information on traffic, noise, dust and other potential impacts.

``We want to take a close look at it,'' she said.

The anticipated closure of Bradley, located at 9081 Tujunga Ave., and other local landfills was part of the rationale the council used in 1999 in approving a massive expansion of Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills over the objection of neighbors.

While there is widespread opposition to the Bradley expansion, there is also some community sentiment the company has tried to be a good neighbor.

``It's fine with me,'' said Phil Tabbi, head of a Neighborhood Watch group about a mile and a half from the landfill. ``I've lived alongside it for 24 years. They do everything under the sun to please the neighborhood.''

Doug Corcoran, the company's district manager, said Bradley has filled up faster than anticipated, and that without the additional capacity it would be full - at current dumping rates - within a year and a half.

About 34 million cubic yards of trash has been dumped at the site, whose permit now is for 36 million cubic yards. By raising the landfill height, the operators could get in an additional 4 million cubic yards, Corcoran said.

``There's a lot of trash moving around the streets of Los Angeles now,'' Corcoran said.

``We want to help communities find solutions for their waste. It's a little early to say shut it down, because so many people rely on it. This would buy a little more time to develop a comprehensive (waste) program in the Los Angeles area. You can't do it overnight.''

Corcoran said under its current zoning variance permit, the company technically could operate the landfill until April 2007. He acknowledged, however, that would mean significantly cutting the 7,000-to-8,000 tons of trash a day the landfill now accepts - a move that might not be economically feasible.

Company officials said the modification they are applying for requires a lower level of public scrutiny, but Corcoran added they will not oppose the proposed environmental review and public hearings.

``We do agree with that and the need to have all the information out to the public,'' Corcoran said. ``But there is the fact that there is a lot of garbage being generated and it needs some place to go.''

Staff Writer Rick Orlov contributed to this report.

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Bradley Landfill