LANDFILL-GROWTH ARGUMENT EXPANDS SUNSHINE CANYON SUSCEPTIBLE TO QUAKE, OPPONENTS SAY.

Byline: KERRY CAVANAUGH Staff Writer

With state officials weighing a permit application for Sunshine Canyon Landfill, opponents of the massive Granada Hills dump have presented new analyses saying it could crumble and leak in a major earthquake.

In a report prepared for advocates fighting the expansion, landfill designer Greg Richardson said the final cover proposed for the dump - which takes all of Los Angeles' residential trash -- would fail in an earthquake, allowing liquid from the landfill to flow into the community and city water supply below.

``The great irony at this site is the certainty of the future seismic events that will lead to this failure,'' Richardson wrote in a letter submitted to the California Integrated Waste Management Board.

He noted that the San Fernando Dam was heavily damaged in the 1971 Sylmar Earthquake while the asphalt liner of the Los Angeles Reservoir cracked during the 1994 Northridge temblor.

``I know of no other landfill in the United States in a higher seismic potential area,'' he added.

But Richardson's analysis was disputed by Browning-Ferris Industries, which owns the dump.

District Manager Greg Loughnane said Sunshine Canyon Landfill has survived large earthquakes with no major damage, and noted that several state agencies have signed off on the company's seismic preparations.

``They concur with the experts we have that indicate we can build this in a way that meets requirements,'' Loughnane said. ``The reality is this has been studied time and time again. It's nothing new.''

BFI is seeking a solid-waste permit for the next phase of the Sunshine Canyon expansion.

Located in a canyon above Granada Hills, the dump straddles the city of Los Angeles and unincorporated Los Angeles County.

The solid-waste permit being considered by the state waste board Feb. 13 would allow BFI to expand the county portion of the landfill onto a parcel that separates it from the city portion.

Los Angeles County supervisors are expected Tuesday to approve a land-use permit allowing BFI to merge the two landfills into one 1,528-acre megadump -- making it one of the largest landfills in the nation.

Neighbors have long fought the landfill, complaining of dust, odors and heavy-truck traffic.

Still worried about the safety of the dump, which the Board of Supervisors has ordered closed in 2036, they have pushed for stronger assurances in case Sunshine Canyon leaks in the future.

Currently the company has liability and post-closure insurance, but neighbors and environmental groups want more money up front.

``Financial assurances are a big deal,'' said Anne Ziliak with the North Valley Coalition, an advocacy group that is a vocal critical of Sunshine Canyon.

``If something happens later at the landfill, who is going to pay for it if BFI declares bankruptcy? We are. We'll have to pay for cleanup.''

The coalition was also disappointed that the Los Angeles County Public Works Department did not hold a long-promised community meeting on the Sunshine Canyon Landfill permit until a few days before the state hearing -- and only after the county sent its recommended permit to the state.

The groups, along with the Sierra Club, International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Planning and Conservation League want the state waste board to require more independent studies of the landfill's seismic safety and financial assurances before the permit is approved.

Since the 1990s, officials have estimated that the landfill could take in 90 million tons over its lifetime, although activists have said the dump actually could take up to 147 million tons.

kerry.cavanaugh(at)dailynews.com

[phone]