GARBAGE 'SPIKE' QUERIED OFFICIALS CITE REPORTING ERROR.

Byline: Heather MacDonald Staff Writer

SANTA CLARITA - Local officials on Friday blamed a reporting error for an ``astronomical'' spike in the amount of waste sent to landfills from the city in 1999.

About 68,000 tons - 25 percent of the city's total amount of trash - was incorrectly attributed to Santa Clarita when dumped in area landfills, according to a memo from City Manager George Caravalho to the City Council.

The spike was discovered in October when the city filed its report with the state, said Jill Fosselman, the city's environmental services manager. Since then, the city staff has been investigating, and recently hired a consultant to determine the source of the error, according to Caravalho's memo.

``We're trying to figure out where the anomaly is coming from,'' Fosselman said. ``That simply wasn't our trash.''

The California Integrated Waste Management Board agrees with the city, and will accept revised figures once the dispute is resolved, based on the city's high recycling rate in past years, according to Caravalho's memo. In 1997, the city recycled 50 percent of its trash in compliance with state law.

Officials from the waste management board, a state agency that calculates diversion rates from cities, could not be reached Friday evening for comment.

Most of the unaccounted trash was dumped in Chiquita Canyon Landfill by Santa Clarita/Blue Barrel Disposal, which is owned by Waste Management Inc. The City Council is scheduled to decide Tuesday whether to enter into a new 10-year contract with the hauler and Atlas Disposal Co.

The spike came about the same time that the two companies were merging and being purchased by Waste Management. Karl McCarthy, the general manager of Blue Barrel, concurred that the county made the error, not his company.

``This is another indication that we need to manage all of the waste, including the trash from (independent companies) so we can get accurate figures,'' McCarthy said. ``That's an astronomical amount of trash, and does not make any sense.''

The City Council has set a goal of recycling 75 percent of the city's trash by 2005.

On March 5, Mayor Laurene Weste argued that the council should put the $15 million contract out to bid to lower the monthly fee - $22.13 - charged to residents. That figure is among the highest in Los Angeles County, although Santa Clarita offers more recycling programs than most cities, Fosselman said.

The other four council members voiced support for Blue Barrel and Atlas. The City Council will take up the issue again Tuesday, and is expected to make a decision.