DUMP COULD BLOCK VIEWS OF MOUNTAINS.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

The proposed Bradley Landfill expansion would raise the dump's height by 43 feet and block some residents' views of the San Gabriel Mountains, plus generating more toxic diesel air pollution in Sun Valley, according to an environmental impact report released Wednesday.

The 5-inch-thick report details potential remedies to lessen the impact of truck traffic, pollution and noise if Waste Management is allowed to expand Bradley and build a trash sorting and transfer facility on site.

The release of the report also begins extensive community education campaigns by landfill operators and opponents, who hope to sway public opinion on the controversial project, which could be the last landfill expansion in Los Angeles.

``For a long time, there's been an interest in having a very public conversation about what's happening at the landfill and in the neighborhood, and this is starting that conversation - what kind of neighborhood we will have for the next generation,'' said Joaquin Sanchez, an organizer with One-LA, which includes churches, schools and community groups opposed to the landfill expansion.

Waste Management Inc., which owns Bradley, has spent nearly three years developing the environmental report. The landfill is a brown hill in Sun Valley, but it's nearly full. The company wants to raise the height of the dump by 43 feet, or the equivalent of a four-story building, adding 4.7 million cubic yards of space.

That would allow the landfill to accept 7,000 tons of trash per day before the dump closes April 14, 2007. The project would also roughly double the current intake at the green waste and wood waste processing facility to 2,500 tons per day. In 2007, Waste Management would build a facility to receive, sort and reload for transport up to 5,000 tons per day of trash and recyclables.

Waste Management District Manager Doug Corcoran hopes residents will consider the money, jobs and community funds generated by the project, in addition to the environmental impacts. The company has pledged $2 for every ton of trash dumped in the expanded landfill, which could generate more than $4 million for the Sun Valley community.

``Take a look about what the impacts really are and then weigh that against what we bring as benefits,'' Corcoran said. ``Hopefully they'll look at it with an open mind. The impacts are not as significant as people would make them out to be.''

The environmental impact report will be available at the Valley Plaza, the Sun Valley, Panorama City, North Hollywood and Van Nuys branch libraries. It's also available online at www.lacity.org/pln by clicking on ``environmental'' and then ``draft environmental impact reports.''

The community has 90 days to review the report and submit comments on the project. There will be community meetings in Sun Valley during the comment period.

Kerry Cavanaugh, [phone]

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com