Baldwin Park : Hearing on Incinerators

The Assembly Environmental Safety and Toxic Materials Committee, headed by Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-El Monte), will conduct a hearing at 10 a.m. today to hear experts testify about the impact that trash incineration plants would have on air quality in the San Gabriel Valley.

Tanner said the hearing also will consider steps to improve the region’s air quality and alternative methods of waste disposal.

Legislation being drafted by Tanner and other local legislators would prohibit construction of incineration plants in the San Gabriel Valley and other “sensitive zones” with poor air quality unless the builder found ways to safeguard air quality near the plant.

Tanner said another proposal under study would require that responsibility for waste disposal be shared regionally so that one area, such as the San Gabriel Valley, would not have more than its share of the burden. More than half of the 42,000 tons of trash collected countywide each day is trucked to four dumps in the San Gabriel Valley for disposal.

The hearing, at Baldwin Park City Council chambers, will include testimony from officials with the state Air Resources Board, South Coast Air Quality Management District, state Waste Management Board and the county Sanitation Districts.