Urges Immediate Closure of Lopez Canyon : Hall Assails Bernardi Over Dump

Los Angeles City Council candidate Lyle Hall on Wednesday called for immediate closure of the city-operated Lopez Canyon Landfill, accusing incumbent Councilman Ernani Bernardi of reneging on promises to force the dump to shut down.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District’s decision to seek criminal charges against the city agency that operates the dump “is the proof of what we’ve been saying, which is that Lopez Canyon needs to be shut down,” Hall said.

The air district said Tuesday it will ask the district attorney’s office to launch a criminal investigation of the city Bureau of Sanitation because of a March 8 accident at the landfill in which two workers fainted from exposure to fumes.

The bureau’s proposal to keep the landfill open until 2005 and double its capacity has been an issue in the runoff election June 6 between Bernardi and Hall for the City Council seat representing the northeast San Fernando Valley.

Hall, a city fire captain, charged that Bernardi has backed off on his demand for immediate closure, which Bernardi has repeated at numerous community meetings this year. Recent Bernardi campaign literature says the councilman opposes keeping the landfill open beyond the scheduled 1992 closure but it does not mention closing it earlier.

Bernardi, a 28-year council veteran, said he had not changed his landfill position “one iota.” However, he said he favors waiting for results of the district attorney’s investigation before making a decision.

Legal Procedures

“If we could close it down right away, of course we would,” Bernardi said. “But all the legal procedures we have to go through and getting it through the City Council, from a practical standpoint we’re just going to do whatever we can.”

Bernardi lashed back at Hall by asking: “Where was he 2 1/2 years ago when they wanted to expand Lopez . . . and we insisted and were successful in getting them to prepare a full environmental impact report? Where was he when the two people were injured up there? I was up there immediately to see what the situation was.”

Hall also raised questions Wednesday about a city seal visible on the side of a police car in a photograph in a Bernardi campaign brochure. Hall said he has asked the city attorney to determine whether the use violates city policies.

The city attorney’s office could not be reached for comment.

“It implies a city endorsement,” Hall said. “I think Ernie took advantage of the police officer and is taking advantage of the rules and regulations that he has so loudly trumpeted before.”

Hall said Bernardi was among those who criticized a newspaper advertisement, placed by firefighters a decade ago, for its inclusion of the city seal. Bernardi acknowledged that he does not condone the seal’s use in campaigns.