County to Enter Joint-Powers Agreement on Hazardous Wastes
The Orange County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to join with Los Angeles, Ventura, San Diego, Riverside, San Bernardino, Imperial and Kern counties in a joint-powers agreement to work on regional approaches to handling hazardous wastes.
The counties involved have been concerned about hazardous waste disposal and treatment since the BKK Corp.’s dump in West Covina was closed to toxic materials in November.
The BKK closure left dumps in Ventura and Kern counties available for toxic materials, requiring long trips for haulers of hazardous wastes.
The purpose of the joint powers agreement is to avoid having state and federal agencies dictate hazardous waste policy to city and county governments, according to Supervisor Harriett Wieder, who proposed board approval of the multicounty agreement.
Wieder said the agreement could mean, for example, that a county that didn’t want a toxic dump site might volunteer to have a waste treatment facility instead.
The actual agreement must still be drafted and submitted to the various counties and cities that would participate. No timetable has been set for such a draft.
Start your day right
Sign up for Essential California for news, features and recommendations from the L.A. Times and beyond in your inbox six days a week.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
