LANDFILL EXPANSION OK'D AMID PROTESTS.Byline: Kermit Pattison Daily News Staff Writer Turning aside fierce protests from residents and farmers from the Santa Clara River Valley The Santa Clara River Valley is a rural region of eastern Ventura County, California and northwest Los Angeles County, California that is named for the Santa Clara River which winds through the valley before emptying into the Pacific Ocean between the cities of Oxnard and Ventura. , the Ventura Regional Sanitation District voted Thursday to move ahead with plans to expand the Toland Road Landfill. The VRSD VRSD Verification Requirements and Specification Document VRSD Verification Requirements Standards Document board of directors voted 6-3 to approve the expansion of the landfill's capacity from 135 tons per day to 1,500 tons per day and to apply for county and state permits. "We have a responsibility to plan for the future," said Thousand Oaks Thousand Oaks, residential city (1990 pop. 104,352), Ventura co., S Calif., in a farm area; inc. 1964. Avocados, citrus, vegetables, strawberries, and nursery products are grown. City Councilwoman Judy Lazar, a VRSD board member. "The future may not be the way we would like it to be, but we have to plan for it. . . . Trash is not going to go away." The VRSD now will seek a conditional use permit from Ventura County to expand the 26-year-old landfill between Santa Paula Santa Paula (săn`tə pôl`ə), city (1990 pop. 25,062), Ventura co., S Calif., on the Santa Clara River in a fertile valley that yields citrus fruits, avocados, vegetables, flowers, nursery products, and walnuts; laid out 1875, inc. and Fillmore. It will also apply to state regulatory agencies state regulatory agency A state body responsible for establishing professional standards, and for certifying professionals or organizations through appropriate documentation for a waste discharge requirement permit and a solid waste facilities permit. The approval came after a boisterous four-hour meeting in Ventura attended by about 120 people, most of whom were opposed to expanding the landfill. "The scale of the new dump is gargantuan gar·gan·tu·an adj. Of immense size, volume, or capacity; gigantic. See Synonyms at enormous. gargantuan Adjective huge or enormous [after Gargantua, a giant in Rabelais' ," said attorney Robert Sawyer Robert Sawyer is:
Opponents branded the project as obsolete because other landfills are available and because state mandates require half the waste stream to be recycled by the year 2000. Many accused VRSD of pursuing the project in a self-serving quest to stay in business after the closure this summer of its other dump, the Bailard Landfill in Oxnard. "You have an opportunity to close down an agency that is no longer needed in Ventura County," Larry Diamond Larry Diamond is a professor, lecturer, adviser, and author on foreign policy, foreign aid, and democracy. In early 2004, he was a senior adviser on governance to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. , who lives near the landfill, told the board. "Please take that opportunity." Farmers feared the expanded landfill would harm agriculture by filling the air with dust and polluting pol·lute tr.v. pol·lut·ed, pol·lut·ing, pol·lutes 1. To make unfit for or harmful to living things, especially by the addition of waste matter. See Synonyms at contaminate. 2. the ground water. Others predicted it would clog state Highway 126 with fleets of noisy, diesel-belching trash trucks and increase the risk of accidents on the already perilous rural highway. "Injuries and loss of life cannot be mitigated," said Linda Bartelson of Santa Paula. "You are putting lives at risk for a dump." The crowd - a mixture of business people in suits and farmers in cowboy hats, jeans and muddy boots - often broke into applause as speakers railed against the dump or chided trash officials. At one point, Santa Paula City Councilman Don Johnson waved a petition he said contained 2,000 signatures of residents opposed to the project. "There's nothing positive about this expansion," he yelled yell v. yelled, yell·ing, yells v.intr. To cry out loudly, as in pain, fright, surprise, or enthusiasm. v.tr. To utter or express with a loud cry. See Synonyms at shout. n. . "You take testimony, but you don't listen to the people." As proposed, the expansion would boost the lifetime capacity of the landfill from 2.5 million tons to 15 million tons. Dumping at the enlarged landfill would generate about 210 car and truck trips per day, although VRSD officials have vowed to keep traffic to a minimum by consolidating waste in large trucks coming from transfer stations. The $1 million environmental impact report commissioned by VRSD last year concluded the Toland Road expansion was the best alternative for trash disposal in western Ventura County, but also said it would create significant problems with noise, traffic and air pollution. But trash officials downplayed any potential harm to agriculture or the quality of life in the Santa Clara River Valley. "We don't want in any way to pose a threat to the valley's agricultural vitality," said VRSD General manager Edward McCombs. "The truth is we don't think we do." Trash officials say the expansion would preserve needed landfill space in Ventura County after the closure of the Bailard Landfill this summer. VRSD officials say a larger landfill would bring economies of scale, allowing tipping fees to be slashed from the current $33.50 per ton to $18 per ton. They said the expansion also would benefit consumers by preventing private companies from getting a stranglehold stran·gle·hold n. 1. Sports An illegal wrestling hold used to choke an opponent. 2. A force, influence, or action that restricts or suppresses freedom or progress. Also called throttlehold. on trash disposal. After the public hearing, the board voted to adopt the environmental impact report and to apply for permits. Voting in favor of the expansion were Lazar, Orvene Carpenter, Ken Gose, Andres Herrera, Gary Tuttle and James Acosta. Opposed were Donald Gunderson, Nina Shelley and Urias. "If nobody likes it, what are we doing there?" Urias said. |
|
||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion