Valley May Have to Take More L.A. Trash

The San Fernando Valley, which already gets 96% of Los Angeles’ household trash, faces the prospect of receiving the rest of it because of a threat by one of the county’s largest dumps to limit disposal.

BKK Corp. may drastically limit disposal at its West Covina landfill, a spokesman for the company said Thursday. Such an action would force the city to divert tons of trash from the harbor area to Valley dumps every day, according to Sterling C. Buesch, assistant director of the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation.

The amount could be up to 200 tons--20 truckloads--a day in household refuse, plus 600 to 1,000 tons a day collected by private firms from apartment houses and businesses, Buesch said.

It is not clear how likely it is that BKK will carry out its threat. However, Buesch and two City Council members from Valley districts described the possibility as a serious concern.

Various Sites Listed

Buesch said the additional trash would most likely be sent to the city-owned Lopez Canyon landfill above Lake View Terrace and the privately operated Sunshine Canyon landfill above Granada Hills. City Council is also due to act soon on a proposal to send more trash to the Bradley West landfill in Sun Valley, regardless of what happens to the BKK site.

Councilman Hal Bernson said Thursday he would fight an effort to have more trash sent into his Valley district.

Bernson said he has received many complaints from his constituents who live near the Sunshine Canyon landfill about noise, odor and traffic congestion from dumping. Last year, in response to the complaints, he won council approval to ban trucks from using Balboa Boulevard as a shortcut to the landfill.

“For five years, we received zero complaints,” said Greig Smith, Bernson’s chief deputy. “In the last 18 months, we’ve received 200 complaints” on problems related to Sunshine Canyon.

Complaints Increase

The complaints increased last year when the city started sending to Valley dumps another 1,600 of the 5,000 tons a day in household refuse generated citywide, following closure of the Toyon Canyon landfill in Griffith Park. That resulted in the Valley getting all of the household trash collected by the city, except for the 200 tons a day generated in the Harbor area, which now goes to BKK.

Figures were not available on garbage collected by private firms from businesses and large apartment complexes.

Kenneth Kazarian, BKK president, said Thursday he might drastically restrict the dump’s intake of trash because the dump is approaching the legal limit on its contents.

The company is seeking approval by the federal Environmental Protection Agency and other regulatory agencies to raise the limit. A decision is expected any day, Kazarian said.

The BKK landfill was Southern California’s largest disposal site for toxic waste until environmental problems that surfaced in 1984 forced the company to limit disposal to ordinary household trash and commercial waste. The company has been dumping the trash on top of the area where toxic waste is buried.

Since toxic dumping ended in November, 1984, BKK Corp. has been working to close the toxic-waste area of the landfill and is awaiting approval by the EPA of a final closure plan. That plan calls for adding 40 feet of trash above a height limit that was imposed temporarily by the EPA and other agencies. Kazarian said the regulatory agencies have been receptive to the closure plan, but have been unwilling to lift the height limit pending hearings, which may not occur until November.

Running Out of Space

Meanwhile, Kazarian said, the dump is running out of space. BKK has applied to the state Regional Water Quality Control Board for a permit to shift disposal operations to another part of the landfill where no waste has been buried, but approval is not expected until next spring.

Kazarian said BKK had expected that its closure plan would be approved by now and that it would be able to continue dumping in the old landfill area until June, then shift to the new area. But BKK cannot stay open until June and continue accepting trash at the current rate without exceeding the height limit, Kazarian said.

Thus, unless the limit is lifted, he said, the dump either must reduce its intake or close completely until the new disposal area can be opened.

Mission Canyon Eyed

Bernson said that, before the Valley gets any more of the city’s trash, he will push for the council to consider reopening Mission Canyon landfill, situated in the Sepulveda Pass west of the San Diego Freeway. The landfill was closed in 1982 because of strong opposition from nearby residents.

Bernson said the council’s recent redistricting could change the council’s position on Mission Canyon, because there are now three more council members representing Valley areas.

Lopez Canyon, the only remaining city-owned dump, is in Councilman Ernani Bernardi’s new district. Councilman Joel Wachs’ new northeast Valley district includes La Tuna Canyon, an area which has been proposed for a garbage dump in the past.

Bernardi said he opposes the Valley getting more of the city’s trash but said he wants to study the options before supporting any course of action.

Councilman Marvin Braude, who gained more Valley constituents in the redistricting, declined Thursday to commit himself to preventing any more of the city’s trash from going to the Valley. He said he remains opposed to reopening Mission Canyon landfill in the Westside part of his district.

Asks Look at Alternatives

“I think it’s a question of what facilities are available and how much harm they can do,” he said. “You have to assess who’s being harmed and what the alternatives are.”

He suggested that trash disposal be covered at the town hall-style meetings he has proposed for discussion of Valleywide issues.

BKK’s threat to limit dumping is the latest development in a countywide garbage disposal crisis caused by the declining number of existing landfills and strong neighborhood opposition to the approval of new ones.

Los Angeles officials have said they expect to send most of the city’s garbage to the Valley until the city can build trash-burning plants. The first plant is expected to be operational in 1992 near downtown Los Angeles. Sanitation officials are preparing to begin a search for a site for a trash-burning plant in the Valley.