DEAL WOULD WEAN CITY OFF DUMP ACTIVISTS SEEKING TO HOLD POLITICIANS TO THEIR PROMISES ABOUT SUNSHINE.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

With the City Council expected to sign on this week for five more years of dumping at Sunshine Canyon Landfill, Granada Hills activists have proposed conditions to the deal, to hold politicians to their word and ensure that Los Angeles gets out of the dump in 2011.

A binding agreement - one that would slowly divert city trash from the landfill - would soothe some of the anger and disappointment longtime dump opponents felt after Mayor James Hahn failed to deliver on his promise to get out of Sunshine Canyon Landfill in 2006.

Mayor-elect Antonio Villaraigosa likewise pledged to veto the city's contract with Sunshine Canyon, as well as work to minimize the impact of the dump. But his office hasn't said how Villaraigosa would vote this week.

The City Council has a June 30 deadline to vote on the Sunshine Canyon contract renewal.

North Valley Coalition President Wadye Hunter said this time his community isn't content with political promises.

``I want the city to demonstrate that they are committed to taking care of their problem,'' Hunter said. ``If they're going to do this for five years, then, by God, you better sign on to this commitment.''

In a letter to the City Council, Hunter wrote that the council should adopt an ordinance ordering that 1,000 tons of trash per day be diverted from the Granada Hills dump every year, beginning in 2007.

That could wean L.A. completely off the dump by 2011, when the contract renewal comes up again, forcing the Department of Sanitation to fast-track new recycling programs and alternative technologies, such as waste-to-energy facilities.

But Department of Sanitation Assistant Director Enrique Zaldivar said the city needs at least five years to get a first trash-conversion plant up.

As for the coalition's proposal? ``It would be very difficult,'' Zaldivar said.

Nonsense, said Mitchell Englander, chief of staff for Councilman Greig Smith. ``If you have vision you can do it,'' Englander said.

Smith is set this week to unveil a 20-year action plan with deadlines and proposed law changes to get the city out of landfills.

L.A. currently sends 3,800 tons per day of trash collected from single- family homes and small apartment complexes to Sunshine Canyon Landfill, which is located in north end of the San Fernando Valley.

For three years, Hahn pushed Sanitation officials to find an alternative to Sunshine Canyon Landfill. They narrowed the field to one competitor, Waste Management Inc., which proposed trucking trash to the Antelope Valley and Riverside County.

Last month, Waste Management pulled its bid after several delays and questioned whether the city leadership was serious about getting out of Sunshine Canyon. Without an alternative, Sanitation officials have proposed renewing the contract with Sunshine owner Browning Ferris Industries.

Granada Hills residents have tried unsuccessfully to shut down the dump for more than a decade, complaining about diesel truck traffic and concerns that the dump operations could taint the nearby drinking water reservoir.

BFI has said the dump is safe and has safeguards to prevent contamination.

Last year BFI won final approval to expand the landfill and double the amount of trash it can take. The landfill is permitted to operate for 25 years and will continue to take trash from other cities, even if the city of Los Angeles pulls its contract.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com