COUNTY PANEL OKS PERMIT FOR LANDFILL : CHIQUITA DUMP'S EXPANSION SET.

Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer

The Chiquita Canyon Landfill will be expanded and remain open through the year 2012 under the terms of a unanimous decision Wednesday by the Los Angeles Regional Planning Commission.

Under the 15-year conditional-use permit approved by the county, Laidlaw Waste Systems Inc. can accept 18.2 millions tons of waste and expand the disposal area on the 592-acre site from 85.3 acres to 154 acres. It also can continue accepting 5,000 tons of waste a day.

``We at Laidlaw are very pleased with the work the county has put together,'' said Rod Walter, the landfill's general manager. ``They recognize a project that is needed.''

Landfill opponents, anticipating the decision, asked the Santa Clarita City Council on Tuesday to file an appeal on their behalf to the county Board of Supervisors. The council will consider the issue at its Sept. 24 meeting.

``All we can do is what the community wants us to do and that is going to the Board of Supervisors and plead for true mitigations,'' said Merry Farmer, chairwoman of Citizens Against the Chiquita Canyon Landfill Expansion.

According to county solid waste officials, the closure of Chiquita next year would have exacerbated a shortage of landfill capacity - an issue bitterly disputed by critics.

They said past predictions of a regional waste crisis never have materialized and that county officials have failed to consider alternatives such as burning waste for fuel.

``We looked at burning very extensively and we have two very expensive incinerators in the city of Commerce and one in Long Beach,'' said Richard Frazier, a county planner. ``We invested a lot of money into developing rail-haul proposals.''

The expansion of Chiquita was more feasible than those costly options, Frazier said.

The commission approved the expansion project shortly after 9 a.m., an hour before most opponents arrived at the commission's Los Angeles headquarters, Farmer said. Councilwoman Jill Klajic, who opposes the landfill, had harsh words for the commission.

Environmentalists said they will base their appeal on violations to the California Environmental Quality Act.

``We will appeal based on damage to health, safety and economic well-being to (the) northwestern Los Angeles area,'' said Allan Cameron, co-chair of LASER, Landfill Alternatives Save Environmental Resources.

Clean Water Action, a national environmental group, already has asked state water officials to investigate alleged violations that include accepting liquid sludge, toxins and exceeding the dump's height limitations.

Laidlaw has denied the allegations.