Propositions H and J Should be Defeated

Two environmental issues with controversial pasts have not received much attention yet in their current manifestations as November ballot issues. But they are worthy of thoughtful consideration by San Diego voters.

Proposition H is the result of an initiative campaign conducted by opponents of the city’s proposed SANDER garbage incineration plant. The SANDER facility would have been a mass-burn, trash-to-energy plant near the Miramar landfill. But the company that wanted to build the plant, Signal Environmental Systems Inc., dropped out of the project in August--after spending $4 million--only to conclude that the resolve of the opposition to stop it was greater than that of the city to build it.

Despite the fact that the project that inspired it appears dead, Proposition H remains on the ballot, and its provisions will govern future attempts to build incineration plants if it passes. We have the same problems with this initiative we have with many of them: It is written too broadly, there is no opportunity to amend it before the vote, and it is not being promulgated by a legislative authority that can be held accountable and can change it once the measure is in effect.

Incineration plants would not be prohibited under Proposition H. But the restrictions imposed would essentially eliminate the possibility of large-scale incinerators in favor of smaller plants, presumably dispersed throughout the city.

We had real problems with the SANDER proposal and do not lament its demise. Unlike the planned trash-to-energy plant proposed for San Marcos, it had no provision for recycling--whatever went into the garbage truck would have gone into the incinerator. But we do not believe at this time that the electorate should tie the hands of the City Council to restrict the future development of better trash incineration proposals.

Opponents of incineration, while making some valid points, have yet to adequately deal with the alternatives. The City Council has set a five-year goal of recycling 25% of our waste. We support that fully, but not with any illusion that it will eliminate the need for either massive landfilling, incineration or both.

We urge a No vote on Proposition H.

The other environmental measure, Proposition J, is the first widely contested measure to go to the ballot as a result of 1985’s Proposition A, which requires a public vote on development projects proposed for the city’s “future urbanizing zone.”

This is, in fact, the La Jolla Valley project--the development proposal that inspired Proposition A.

The project’s developers appear to be simply going through the motions of having a referendum as a necessary step prior to filing a lawsuit challenging the legality of Proposition A. La Jolla Valley is a project that never should have been approved by the City Council when it was in 1984, and we recommend a No vote on Proposition J.