SUNSHINE DUMP OK'D STATE APPROVES LANDFILL EXPANSION; HAHN VOWS TO FIGHT ON.

Byline: Kerry Cavanaugh Staff Writer

Disregarding pleas from Los Angeles city leaders and San Fernando Valley residents, the state waste board gave the go-ahead Tuesday to expand Sunshine Canyon Landfill into Granada Hills.

The decision means Browning Ferris Industries needs only a few more environmental permits before breaking ground on a 205-acre dump near Interstate 5 and Highway 14 capable of holding 55 millions tons of trash.

Mayor James Hahn vowed to continue to fight each remaining approval.

Nearly 100 landfill neighbors packed a video teleconference to tell the Sacramento-based California Integrated Waste Management Board the expansion would only worsen air pollution, increase the frequency of illnesses and risk the contamination of the city's water supply.

``No matter what you say, BFI, you cannot guarantee our safety,'' longtime Granada Hills resident Cathern Thompson told the waste board to the applause of the crowd.

Residents were joined in opposition by Van Gogh Street Elementary School staffers who told of illnesses and lock-downs on campus because of strange odors. Others called for a new study looking at high rates of cancer in the area.

But Valley Chamber of Commerce leaders and business owners lobbied for the expansion, warning of trash pileups and high disposal costs if the dump does not grow.

``It's another nail in the coffin of business,'' said Flip Smith, a Van Nuys tire store owner who protested the potential jump in disposal rates. ``I can't pass these costs on to my customers.''

Representatives for Hahn and City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo both pushed the board to deny the permit, saying there were unanswered questions about air and water quality.

``The health of thousands of residents and the health and vitality of neighborhoods around the Sunshine Canyon facility will be jeopardized by your decision,'' Hahn wrote in a statement to the board.

But some board members said the city of Los Angeles had essentially tied their hands.

The City Council and former Mayor Richard Riordan approved the expansion in 1999, leaving the waste board with limited legal basis to deny the permit.

``We've been put in an awkward position by the city of Los Angeles,'' said board member Michael Paparian, who abstained from the vote and was the only member not to approve the permit.

``The City Council of Los Angeles had the opportunity to look at the broader issues we are asked to look at here.''

Greig Smith, an aide to Councilman Hal Bernson and current council candidate, said the City Council narrowly approved Sunshine Canyon Landfill in 1999 on the false assumption of a trash-capacity shortage.

``We hope the state of California will understand the city's desire to correct a mistake made in 1999,'' Smith said.

Waste industry representatives, however, cautioned that there is a space shortage now. BFI Projects Director Dave Edwards told the board that Los Angeles is sending approximately 5,000 tons of trash out of the county each day. And the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts said the expansion is needed now while officials develop remote, desert landfills.

BFI currently operates a 215-acre landfill just across the county line that can take in 6,600 tons of trash per day. The waste board approved on Tuesday a 205-acre dump permitted to take in 5,500 tons per day.

The company ultimately expects to join the county side and proposed city side into one giant dump capable of holding 90 million tons of trash in Granada Hills.

Deputy City Attorney Gideon Kracov said the city will continue to challenge BFI's permit. If the dump is given all remaining approvals, the city would step up enforcement and ``make sure it's operated as the safest landfill in the world.''

But North Valley Coalition President Wayde Hunter said the community lost a big opportunity when the board chose not to push for stronger environmental safeguards, despite residents' concerns.

``There are problems here and for them to just totally ignore these things, I believe nobody was served here today except the waste industry,'' Hunter said after the meeting.