COUNCIL DELAYS LANDFILL DECISION; OPPONENTS CITE NEED TO STUDY ALTERNATIVES.

Byline: Beth Barrett Staff Writer

Lacking the votes to approve reopening Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills, the Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday put off a decision so new questions about alternatives can be addressed.

Faced with bitter opposition from the North San Fernando Valley community, the council overwhelmingly passed a series of conditions on operating the dump - including efforts to eliminate diesel garbage trucks - but postponed until Dec. 8 a decision on whether to reopen it or conduct a study with the county of alternative sites in remote desert areas.

It was the third time the council delayed a vote on Sunshine - an issue that was expected to gain easy approval weeks ago.

``I think the process we have been following shows government at its worst,'' said Councilman Joel Wachs. ``It totally flies in the face of what charter reform was all about . . . opening government and requiring people in neighborhoods to debate before decisions are made, not after.

``What is the rush to judgment? The failure to scrutinize costs, the failure to do adequate studies could make Sunshine the city's Belmont. And if this does, which one on this council will stand up and take responsibility for it; which one will say they were responsible. There is no rush for this. There is no urgency.''

Councilman Hal Bernson, whose district includes the dump, said the city paid extra to buy land and ship sludge from the Hyperion sewage treatment plant to Kern County and should do the same for Granada Hills, even if it means a dollar or so increase in the $7 monthly garbage equipment charge already in place.

``Why can't we do something for our solid waste, even it costs a little more?'' he asked. ``We should look at joining with the county in a joint venture.''

At Supervisor Mike Antonovich's urging, the county Board of Supervisors has ordered a study of buying a remote desert landfill far from homes and businesses as an alternative to Sunshine.

With five Valley members adamantly opposed and two supporters absent, the swing vote became Councilwoman Jackie Goldberg, who said she needed more information before making up her mind.

``If there's an alternative, I'll never vote to open Sunshine,'' said Goldberg, adding the city must ensure it has enough landfill space or wind up at the mercy of dump operators charging exorbitant fees.

West Valley Councilwoman Laura Chick said it was clear the city had several years to find remote alternatives to Sunshine, which would be less than half a mile from homes and a school, and significant savings could be made elsewhere in the city's $4.2 billion budget to pay for a remote landfill.

``This is a final decision: We have a landfill in our city that's open for years and years to come and will take trash from everyone else,'' she said. ``It doesn't make sense to make this decision today.''

Under Chick's questioning, city officials acknowledged there now are 1,500 diesel garbage trips a day through Granada Hills in the county's portion of Sunshine and the number would swell to more than 2,600 if the city area is opened.

Carrying a trash can filled with paper money, representing the more than $450,000 Sunshine's operator, Browning Ferris Industries, has spent lobbying the council, more than 60 opponents attended the meeting.

They said they felt betrayed because the city in 1991 closed Sunshine with the promise to do everything possible to keep it from reopening. Litigation with the county later allowed the option for expansion.

``They're fueling the fires of secession with this,'' said Laura Casas Frier, who lives less than two miles from the landfill.

Added Iris Shah, a retired linguistics professor who is a member of the Knollwood Property Owners Association, ``I used to say how can you have a city without a Music Center, but if they're going to be this irresponsible, I don't want to be under this City Council. They don't care about us, obviously.''

Less impact

Council members said the measures approved Wednesday would lessen the impact of the 394-acre dump expansion if it's approved. They included a 10-year limit on the use of the land for a dump, an eventual ban on diesel trash trucks at the landfill once the technology is available, and camera monitoring and other oversight measures to prevent violation of mitigation measures.

It was unclear, however, how much new protection some of the terms would provide.

BFI spokesman Arnie Berghoff said the company is subject to review every four years anyway under terms of the proposed conditional use permit that would create a 55 million-ton dump over the next 26 years.

Wayde Hunter, president of the North Valley Coalition, the group that's led the community protest, said he will step up the fight with the three-week delay.

``We'll be phoning council members and getting businesses involved,'' Hunter said. ``It's not just Granada Hills; it's Sylmar and the rest of the San Fernando Valley. This is not just a local issue.''

Several council members questioned the cost analysis of alternative sites presented at the last minute by Chief Legislative Analyst Ron Deaton, as well as raising health and safety concerns.

BFI officials said a completed environmental impact report, which the planning commission approved, found the landfill would not put neighbors at risk from dust or pollutants.

To complaints of respiratory problems in the area, BFI's attorney Chris Funk said there is no evidence the company is at fault.

``There are lots of sources of dust in the area,'' said Funk, with the downtown law firm Weston Benshoof Rochefort Rubalcava MacCuish.

Wachs said the city should take more time to consider a comprehensive waste disposal policy, including hauling trash away by rail to more remote areas.

He said a cost alternative study requested three weeks ago was not available until just before council began Wednesday, preventing scrutiny, and he accused Deaton of personally taking charge of a report that should have been done by city agencies.

``You immediately send up signals you have something to hide; you immediately send up signals you want to put your own spin on it,'' Wachs said.

Deaton's analysis again found that remote landfills would cost $8 million to $9 million a year more than Sunshine - about $1 a month per household. He said problems with a computer spreadsheet program caused the delay.

Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, who represents Brentwood, Pacific Palisades and parts of the West Valley, led support for reopening Sunshine. The proposal would rezone the property and amend the general plan to allow the dump to expand, much of it onto the old landfill closed in 1991 when BFI's previous conditional use permit expired.

She said a regional-waste master plan was done in the early- to mid-1990s, and Sunshine Canyon was identified as ``one of the viable landfill areas.''

``Those who say we need a master plan, we need to work together, we have been doing that,'' she said.