SUNSHINE FIGHT QUESTIONED LABONGE WORRIES ABOUT HIGHER-COST OF OTHER WASTE ALTERNATIVES.

Byline: Rick Orlov Staff Writer

A City Council member questioned Tuesday whether Los Angeles should proceed with plans to oppose the Sunshine Canyon Landfill expansion because it would cost more to send its trash elsewhere.

Councilman Tom LaBonge, whose district includes a portion of the east San Fernando Valley, said he is concerned about a potential jump in trash-hauling costs if the landfill is not allowed to open in Granada Hills. The council already has agreed to Mayor James Hahn's proposal to boost trash fees by two-thirds to help balance the budget.

``I'm not sure we have fully explored this,'' LaBonge said during a City Council meeting where he delayed action on a proposal limiting the type of material that could be used as cover at the dump.

``We have to explore all the costs and the impact on the city, here and elsewhere. I'm not sure other parts of California will want to take in Los Angeles' trash.''

Mayor James Hahn has made the closure of Sunshine Canyon one of his top political priorities, and there is no plan to change that, an aide said.

``The mayor is convinced that an urban area like Los Angeles is no place for a landfill,'' Deputy Mayor Matt Middlebrook said. ``He made a promise to the people of Granada Hills that he will fight to keep Sunshine Canyon closed, and he intends to stick to that.''

However, Mary Edwards of the North Valley Coalition activist group said she is worried about such talk from LaBonge.

``This is what's happened to us in the past,'' Edwards said. ``The people behind the landfill are able to be down there and raise these issues with council members, and areas like ours, where there are middle-class and retired folks, are forced to live with landfills.

``It's not fair, and it's not right that we get stuck with all the city trash.''

Edwards also disputed arguments about higher trash-hauling costs.

``They don't talk about the real costs,'' Edwards said. ``The city Bureau of Sanitation hides a lot of it. It's cheap in the short run to use a place like Sunshine, but it's expensive in the long run in terms of public health and the cost to human beings.''

Los Angeles now pays $23 a ton to truck trash directly to Sunshine Canyon. Trash collected in south and north central Los Angeles goes through a transfer station, bringing the per-ton cost to $43. Estimates to haul the trash by rail to faraway locations range from $60 to $70 a ton.

Edwards said the city should investigate utilizing technology that converts trash into energy or usable by-products - a concept that LaBonge supported.

``We waste so much stuff that could be converted,'' LaBonge said. ``It's certainly worth looking at. I just want us to keep all our options open.''

Councilman Hal Bernson, who represents the area that includes Sunshine Canyon, has said he is not surprised at any effort to reopen the landfill.

The city closed the landfill in 1992, but has since agreed to reopen it, a policy Hahn says he wants to reverse. The state Integrated Waste Management Board last week approved BFI's application for an operating permit.