LANDFILL GROWTH REPORT SOUGHT BOTH OPERATOR, CRITICS WANT EIR.

Byline: ERIC LEACH

Staff Writer

SIMI VALLEY -- While critics of the proposed Simi Valley Landfill expansion are raising questions about truck traffic, air pollution, groundwater contamination and other potential impacts, the landfill's owners say they are committed to protecting the environment and keeping local residents informed about expansion plans.

The Simi Valley Landfill Expansion Task Force sent a letter last week asking officials at the Ventura County planning division for a fresh, impartial look at the entire project through a new environmental impact report.

Officials at Waste Management Inc., which owns the landfill, said they also support such a report because public education and an impartial, scientific review of the facts are in their best interest. A new report will also help deal with unfounded fears and rumors.

Barbra Williamson, who formed the citizen task force, said she is concerned that landfill operators and county officials will rely at least in part on an EIR adopted in 2002 for the landfill's conditional-use permit.

"We just want to make sure we are going forward and not backward," said Williamson, who formed her citizens task force in April, just before Waste Management filed its expansion application with the county.

"It's our understanding that they were going to use the 2002 report and add on to it. The big question is why are they are in a hurry. Their current (landfill) permit doesn't expire until 2035."

Waste Management officials have applied to expand the dump -- in the hills north of the 118 Freeway and Madera Road -- from 185 to 371 acres, saying they want to double the volume of trash deposited there from 3,000 to 6,000 tons a day.

The company purchased 2,800 acres near the landfill from Unocal Corp. in 2004, saying at the time that plans were to expand.

Company officials said Ventura County's landfills, including the Simi Landfill and the Toland Landfill near Santa Paula, will reach capacity in about 20 years.

Impact report outdated 

Along with the request sent to the county for a new EIR, Williamson's task force members issued a summary of their initial findings, including the conclusion that the 2002 EIR is outdated because it doesn't incorporate technological advances in recycling, waste-to-energy conversion and other alternatives for reducing waste, and doesn't consider scaled-down proposals for expanding the landfill.

The task force said the water required to operate the proposed landfill expansion could have a negative impact on water resources in an area with an increasing population and a historic pattern of droughts.

The 2002 report does not evaluate the potential for gas and oil migration from the site, and does not adequately assess impacts on traffic, air pollution and greenhouse gasses, Williamson said.

Kit Cole, a spokeswoman for Waste Management, said her company already addressed some of these concerns in its application to the county and on its Web site, www.keepingventuracountyclean.com.

Preventing contamination

For example, she said, the landfill already takes precautions to prevent water contamination and has made recent improvements in its trucks to cut air pollution.

The company's expansion application also outlines plans to reduce traffic on city streets near the landfill, increase and improve recycling, increase safeguards to keep out hazardous waste and consumer electronics, and increase recovery of methane gas that will be converted to electricity.

Cole said Waste Management is already committed to a new EIR, but it could take a year or more to complete.

"We really appreciate the task force input on the project, but the time for official public input might not be for another 12 months," she said.

Residents can look at Waste Management's proposal on the company Web site, she added, and they also can take guided tours of the landfill to acquaint themselves with how it operates, how it will change, and environmental protections in place now and those planned for the future.

A new EIR "will help clear up misconceptions," Cole said. "It will give us actual facts and figures that are scientifically based so that we can have fact-based discussions with the community. Now we have a lot of rumors and guessing."

Waste Management's application, filed with the county in April to expand the landfill, was a preliminary step, she said. The county officials found the application incomplete and returned it to Waste Management to have questions answered.

"We will answer the questions and expect to resubmit the application in a few months," Cole said. "This is a multiyear process."

Williamson, a member of the Simi Valley City Council, said she decided to independently form her task force as a private citizen because the issue is too important for the community to wait until official public hearings are held, which might be next year.

"This thing is already getting so big and so convoluted, nobody is going to know who's on first and who's on second," she said.

Alice Sterling, a Simi Valley resident, Pasadena city planner and task force member, said the basic goal of an EIR is to ensure that a high-quality environment is maintained for the future.

"It is critical for residents of Simi Valley with questions about the landfill expansion to have documentation that is up to date," she said.

A new EIR "will give us the documentation, the data and the research the general public needs," Sterling said. "Then we can go through the process of deliberating and analyzing what the impacts are going to be."

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If you go

The Simi Valley Landfill Expansion Task Force will hold its third meeting 7 p.m. Aug. 22 in the Simi Valley Library community room at 2969 Tapo Canyon Road.

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(ran in Simi edition only) If you go (see text)