RUNNER DELAYS PANEL HEARING ON WASTE DUMP.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Daily News Staff Writer

A bill that would add Elsmere Canyon to a regional wildlife corridor has been stalled in an Assembly committee after opposition surfaced from organizations that want to build a landfill there.

Assemblyman George Runner said he halted Monday's hearing on his measure before the Assembly Natural Resources Committee because he wanted to prepare responses to arguments set forth by his opposition - the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts and two trash companies, BKK Corp. and Browning-Ferris Industries.

``We weren't prepared for the arguments they presented,'' the Lancaster Republican said in a telephone interview Tuesday. ``They overstated their arguments, and we needed time to explain that and respond to their challenges.''

At issue is Assembly Bill 1743, an effort proposed by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy and backed by the city of Santa Clarita, to include Elsmere Canyon and the adjacent Whitney Canyon in the Rim of the Valley Corridor.

Though the designation cannot prevent the canyons from being used as dumps, it would allow the conservancy to buy the land if state money became available.

Marc Aprea, divisional vice president of government affairs for BFI, which owns Elsmere, said in a March 11 letter to the committee that Runner's bill is a veiled effort to thwart plans for a dump in the canyon.

``AB 1743's only objective is to stop the Elsmere Canyon Landfill,'' Aprea said in his letter. ``AB 1743 is unreasonable interference with local solid waste planning and siting authority.''

Runner's bill, Aprea said, would undermine a state mandate that regional governments come up with solid-waste management plans.

The Elsmere landfill, originally proposed by BKK, was planned as a 190 million-ton dump, mostly in the Angeles National Forest just south of Santa Clarita. Federal parks legislation in late 1996 killed that effort, but the county and the waste industry have said a landfill still is possible on privately held parcels in Elsmere.

Runner said he will spend the next several days meeting with committee members, and negotiating with county and trash industry representatives.

``We got this letter late Friday evening and the bill was up on Monday,'' Runner said. ``We didn't have any opportunity to talk with the opposition.''

But he maintains that Elsmere is unsuitable for a dump and that the city of Santa Clarita has not been given a fair voice on the subject.

The county's Local Agency Formation Commission has refused to designate a ``sphere of influence'' for Santa Clarita, a policy that allows most cities some say in issues on their borders. Also, there are three landfills in the valley - BFI's Sunshine Canyon Landfill, the Chiquita Canyon Landfill near Val Verde and a dump at the Peter J. Pitchess Detention Center in Saugus.

``We have to really communicate that Santa Clarita has by far beyond its fair share of landfill facilities,'' Runner said. ``We also have to communicate that the city has not been fairly engaged in the (county's landfill) siting discussion.''