County Stands By Study of Canyon for Toxic Dump

Despite strong neighborhood opposition, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Tuesday stood by its earlier order for a close study of a remote canyon where cattle graze near the Kern County line as one of three possible sites for disposing of toxic wastes.

More than 50 residents marched outside, then presented their protest inside the supervisors’ chambers. They wore T-shirts with a map of the site on Tejon Ranch in Oso Canyon three miles east of Gorman. Two other areas selected for study are Potrero Canyon near Magic Mountain, and Hi Vista east of Lancaster.

The protest was the latest in a two-year search by the supervisors for a site for the county’s growing burden of toxic wastes. The search has been met with fear by residents of several communities who say they would be endangered by the wastes.

After chanting “The faults are clear, no toxic wastes here,” protesters asked the board to reject Oso Canyon because of its nearness to the San Andreas and Garlock earthquake faults, the Antelope Valley ground-water basin and the California Aqueduct.

However, Supervisor Pete Schabarum, who is spearheading the board’s search for a remote place to entomb treated toxic wastes, warned the citizens that the county is committed to finding a site, regardless of local protests.

“They (toxic wastes) have got to go somewhere,” Schabarum said. “We aren’t going to enjoy forever the luxury of hauling the toxic wastes created in this county to Casmalia or Kettleman Hills,” toxic waste dumps located near Santa Barbara and Bakersfield.

On May 29, a judge struck down arguments by Tejon Ranch Co., which had fought a request by county geologists to take underground core samples from the ranch in their search for a suitable repository. Under the court order, the county will be allowed to take samples once it guarantees to Tejon Ranch officials that it will protect the canyon land from excessive disruption.

Geologists are looking for a site with an impervious hard rock floor on which to build a “residuals repository,” a dry, clay-lined landfill for the permanent storage of extensively treated and dried toxic wastes.

Such repositories, widely used in Europe, are said by experts to be safe from leaks that have turned traditional moist landfills into environmental hazards. The plan has been praised by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Landowners at all three sites have protested, but Tejon Ranch Co., in which Times Mirror Co. owns an interest, has thrown up a series of legal hurdles to stymie the county.

The Tejon company sought and received a change of venue that forces the county to travel to Imperial County for court appearances, and has hired attorney Joel Moskowitz, former director of the state’s toxic substance division, to represent it.

Tejon officials and local residents say that the canyon, used for cattle grazing, lies over the huge Antelope Valley ground-water system and helps feed the nearby California Aqueduct. But county officials say that geologic information on Oso Canyon is sketchy at best, and does not show that it is connected to major ground-water supplies.

“Nobody really knows what’s underneath, and that’s why we want to drill,” said Kieran Bergin, the county’s leading engineer on the project.

Susan Romeo, a Tejon Ranch spokeswoman, said the company has not formally joined forces with the residents. However, Mary Bourquin, leader of the citizens’ group, said the company has given local residents detailed geologic data on the ranch and a $200 donation to aid their protest.

While Tejon has refused to cooperate, officials of Newhall Land & Farming, which owns the site being considered in Potrero Canyon near Magic Mountain, have given the county permission to take core samples from the property. The company initially challenged the county’s testing plan in court, but officials say they changed their minds after deciding that the fight was fruitless.

“We could delay and delay, do what Oso Canyon (Tejon Ranch) did and ask for a change of venue and stuff,” said Gloria Casvin, vice president of Newhall Land & Farming. “But . . . we don’t want to spend our money and their money fighting something we can’t win.”

Remains Opposed

Casvin said the company nevertheless adamantly opposes a toxics repository in Potrero Canyon, which is slated for intensive housing and business development under a 25-year master plan.

The county has already taken core samples from the Hi Vista site east of Lancaster, much of which is located on county property. Geologists found a solid granite floor, a discovery that Bergin said has kept the site on the active list.

Bergin said the three locations being investigated were selected from an original list of more than 400 remote sites identified by experts from seven Southern California counties during a three-year regional study.