DUMPING ON VALLEY? LANDFILL DEBATE HAS RESIDENTS FUMING.Byline: Troy Anderson Staff Writer One of the nation's largest landfills may soon expand if the Los Angeles City Council  The Los Angeles City Council is the governing body of the City of Los Angeles, California, United States. gives its approval this month - and the council
is indicating it will do so.
Backed by the dump's bitterly opposed neighbors, San Fernando Valley San Fernando Valley Valley, southern California, U.S. Northwest of central Los Angeles, the valley is bounded by the San Gabriel, Santa Susana, and Santa Monica mountains and the Simi Hills. civic leaders said the city is unfairly targeting the Valley for one more landfill - without adequate restitution. Only $2 million - just a third of a proposed $6 million in fees - would be spent directly in the community most affected by the Sunshine Canyon Landfill. ``The basic problem is it's another example of the City Council dumping on the San Fernando Valley,'' said Richard Close, chairman of Valley Voters Organized Toward Empowerment, the group leading efforts to explore Valley cityhood. ``Only a small portion of this dump is used for the city's trash. It's a way for the city to make money at the expense of those residents in the North Valley. This is another reason why people are calling for a separate city. I don't think the residents in the Valley can be bought off by a proposal like this.'' Browning Ferris Industries, the landfill operator, and city officials say the expansion is needed to avert a potential crisis of landfill space in the city, and 80 percent of the proposed expansion would be in an area of the landfill that was closed in 1991. If approved, the city and county portions of the dump would include 451 acres and have a capacity of 90 million tons. The company sought approval for a 215-million ton landfill on the county side more than a decade ago. Opponents say if the council approves the expansion they anticipate the firm will seek the additional county land, making it one of the largest landfills in the country. The deal Last week, the City Council delayed voting on the expansion until Oct. 26, to allow the city and the company to agree on how to compensate for the landfill and lessen its impact. Councilman Hal Bernson Hal Bernson served as Los Angeles City Councilman for the 12th district. He was chair of the Transportation Committee. Prior to being on the City Council, he served in the Navy. Preceded by Robert M. said he did not believe he could muster enough support to defeat the dump. City Councilman Michael Feuer Michael Feuer (1958-)[1] is a Californian politician and lawyer. He now represents the 42nd Assembly District which includes Beverly Hills, West Hollywood, and part of Los Angeles in the California State Assembly. He was elected in 2006 on the Democratic ticket. offered a plan that he said he hoped would give the city more control: Browning Ferris would pay the city $6 million a year in franchise fees. Of that, $2 million would be spent on North Valley community enhancements, which could include the purchase of the Chatsworth Reservoir to prevent development there. Another $2 million would be spent on annually converting 80 of the city's 500 diesel trash trucks to clean-fueled alternatives. Feuer proposes spending $1 million on converting privately operated diesel trucks. The remaining $1 million would be spent on what the mayor and City Council deem ``important city services The examples and perspective in this article or section may represent an unduly geographically limited view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. .'' Feuer also proposes that the company provide stand-alone air-conditioning units for all rooms in the nearby Van Gogh Elementary School elementary school: see school. to keep children safe from the ``potentially devastating dev·as·tate tr.v. dev·as·tat·ed, dev·as·tat·ing, dev·as·tates 1. To lay waste; destroy. 2. To overwhelm; confound; stun: was devastated by the rude remark. consequences'' of particulate pollution. He proposes requiring Browning Ferris to place a monitor at the school to assess the impact of pollution. If air pollution levels exceed what is deemed acceptable by the Southern California Southern California, also colloquially known as SoCal, is the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. Centered on the cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Southern California is home to nearly 24 million people and is the nation's second most populated region, Air Quality Management District, the landfill should be shut until the air improves, Feuer said. The landfill operated on city land from 1956 to 1991 when the city rejected an expansion plan. When it reopened on adjacent county land a year later, the city went to court to block it, but in 1995, however, a judge cleared the way for its reopening. And although the city had fought against it for years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time city Planning city planning, process of planning for the improvement of urban centers in order to provide healthy and safe living conditions, efficient transport and communication, adequate public facilities, and aesthetic surroundings. Commission voted in February to approve the expansion on the city's side. Less is best Browning Ferris is not enthusiastic about Feuer's plan. First, the company wants to pay the city only $4 million a year - what the county charges the company for operating on the 215-acre county portion of the landfill, said Arnie Berghoff, a Browning Ferris spokesman. Regarding the conversion of diesel trucks to cleaner-burning fuels, Berghoff said the conversions are inevitable and are going to occur eventually across the country, but the technology is not advanced enough yet. ``All our evidence shows they can't deliver enough torque to haul these heavy loads,'' Berghoff said. ``When the technology is available and it's economically feasible, not only will we convert, but the city and everyone will.'' Feuer contends the technology is available now. The city recently received $245,000 to develop a pilot conversion program for some of its refuse trucks. In relation to the danger to students at nearby schools, Berghoff said extensive studies show the landfill will have no effect on the air quality at those schools. ``It's a nonissue non·is·sue n. A matter of so little import that it ought not to become a focus of controversy and comment: She felt that the matter of her attire should have been a nonissue. ,'' Berghoff said. ``For us to go out and provide some kind of air filtration system doesn't make any sense. There isn't going to be any impact. It's a brand new school.'' Opponents: Plan stinks Landfill opponents also see numerous holes in Feuer's proposal, an idea they said simply is a way for dump supporters to sell what is a lucrative move for the city. ``Everyone is fighting over Los Angeles' trash like a dog over a bone,'' said Mary Edwards, a spokeswoman for the North Valley Coalition of Concerned Citizens The Coalition of Concerned Citizens was a New Zealand Christian conservative pressure group, and one of several attempts to form pro-censorship, anti-abortion, anti-gay and sex education opponents into a comprehensive social conservative political coalition. . ``Now the city wants to cut a deal. ``It really looks like the City Council will approve it if there is enough money there. That doesn't seem ethical. We're being sold out. We're the beans being counted.'' Edwards and others opposed to the expansion say they support parts of Feuer's proposal, like phasing out diesel trash trucks and spending money on North Valley projects, but they say those carrots don't outweigh the negatives. Granada Hills and Sylmar residents blame the dump on pockets of cancers in their neighborhoods, although they have no proof of that. ``My wife had breast cancer,'' said Granada Hills resident Al Hecht. ``The neighbor boy across the street has cancer. I can't tell you how many neighbors have cancer. We were promised a cancer survey, but we never got one.'' Residents say they don't trust the City Council because it doesn't have their best interest at heart. Big money The company paid lobbyists $432,653 in 1998 and the first quarter of 1999 to lobby for the expansion - according to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. City Ethics Commission In the United States, an Ethics Commission is a commission established by State law to discourage dishonest practices by their public employees and elected officials. Almost all American states have such a commission. reports. During 1998, the company ranked No. 2 among the amount paid to lobbyists, the Ethics Commission said. Browning Ferris, one of the nation's largest waste disposal companies, has disclosed paying more than $75.5 million in fines and settlements from 1972 to 1994, according to the Center for Health, Environment and Justice, a watchdog environmental group in Falls Church Falls Church, independent city (1990 pop. 9,578), NE Va., a residential suburb of Washington, D.C.; inc. as a town 1875, as a city 1948. There is diverse light manufacturing, including telecommunications equipment. , Va. Berghoff said Browning Ferris in Southern California is an environmentally sound operator and has not become entangled en·tan·gle tr.v. en·tan·gled, en·tan·gling, en·tan·gles 1. To twist together or entwine into a confusing mass; snarl. 2. To complicate; confuse. 3. To involve in or as if in a tangle. in an unusual number of lawsuits. ``I think if you look at the history of any company you'll find a history of lawsuits and a history of charges,'' Berghoff said. ``The reputation of Browning Ferris in Southern California is that of an excellent operator.'' Others disagree. ``It's absolutely inexcusable for the city to broker deals that are going to impact the community for 60 years with a firm with a long history of environmental problems,'' said John Hendricks, president of the Rinaldi Shoshone Neighborhood Preservation Association, a Granada Hills group opposed to the landfill expansion. The quake gambit (language) Gambit - A variant of Scheme R3.99 supporting the future construct of Multilisp by Marc Feeley <feeley@iro.umontreal.ca>. Implementation includes optimising compilers for Macintosh (with Toolbox and built-in editor) and Motorola 680x0 Unix systems and HP300, BBN As part of a last-ditch effort to stave off approval of what would become a 90 million ton, 451-acre dump, residents have mounted a campaign to emphasize the possibility that the city's water supply could be contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. in the event of a major earthquake. They contend that the dump's synthetic liner could rupture, sending toxic runoff called leachate leach·ate n. A product or solution formed by leaching, especially a solution containing contaminants picked up through the leaching of soil. into the Balboa inlet tunnel that funnels water coming off the California Aqueduct The California Aqueduct is a 444 mile (715 km)-long[1] aqueduct in the United States that carries water from Northern California to Southern California. as it cascades into the nearby Metropolitan Water District's Joseph Jensen Water Filtration Plant. ``It's an environmental catastrophe waiting to happen,'' said Granada Hills resident Ralph Kroy. But Berghoff said groundwater monitoring around the landfill since the 1960s shows no contamination has occurred. ``Every minute it is operating, a county health inspector A health inspector, or Environmental Health Specialist is a public employee who investigates health hazards in a wide variety of locations, then will take action to mitigate or eliminate the hazards. is watching to make sure all state and federal regulations are being complied with,'' Berghoff said. SUNSHINE CANYON LANDFILL AT A GLANCE The City Council is considering whether to reopen and expand Sunshine Canyon Landfill, making it one of the nation's largest. Among the landfill facts are: Total acreage: 451 acres County portion: 215 acres Closed city portion: 215 acres Proposed city expansion: 194 acres, but 80 percent of the expansion is on top of the old landfill. Total capacity of expanded landfill: 90 million tons Total capacity Browning Ferris Industries sought a decade ago: 215 million tons Councilman Michael Feuer has proposed a deal between the city and BFI BFI - brute force and ignorance to expand the landfill. Highlights include installing air-conditioning filters to protect schoolchildren schoolchildren school npl → écoliers mpl; (at secondary school) → collégiens mpl; lycéens mpl schoolchildren school from pollution and a $6 million fee to the city, of which: Two million dollars would go to North Valley community enhancement projects. Two million dollars would be spent to convert the city's diesel garbage-truck fleet to cleaner-burning alternatives. One million dollars would be spent to convert private diesel-fueled to cleaner alternatives. One million dollars would go for ``important city services.'' CAPTION(S): 2 photos, box, map Photo: (1 -- color) Six-year-old Alex Gil and residents from Granada Hills and Sylmar are protesting the proposed expansion of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill. (2) Granada Hills and Sylmar residents protest the dump expansion plans. Eric Grigorian/Special the Daily News Map: Sunshine Canyon Landfill Box: SUNSHINE CANYON LANDFILL AT A GLANCE (see text) |
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