Task Force Lists Choices for Landfills

Taking its cue from the landfill shortage that has developed in North County, a joint San Diego city and county task force has identified six potential dump sites in the southern and western areas of the county to replace three that are rapidly filling.

The task force study of the proposed sites will be presented to the public in community meetings over the next several weeks, and two or three of the six will eventually be chosen.

But proposing sites may be the easiest step in the process, officials warned Tuesday. Overcoming opposition to the desperately needed landfills will be tougher, as evidenced by the political struggles that have stymied selection of a new North County trash dump site.

North Versus South

Officials said that gaining final approval for a landfill site or sites in the southwest section of the county could take as long as seven years.

“You’re going to have to have it somewhere,” County Supervisor Brian Bilbray said. “We know we’re going to need it in the future.”

The search for space in the south is not as pressing as in the north, said Kathy Lehtola, program manager for the county Department of Public Works. Whereas dumps in Otay Mesa, Miramar and Sycamore are expected to be full in the late 1990s, the San Marcos landfill in North County is expected to be filled by 1991.

(The county will take a look at adding the so-called Lowry landfill site to three already under consideration in North County at a supervisors’ meeting Tuesday.)

“We’re really early in the process,” said Robert Epler, deputy director of waste management for the city of San Diego. “From a planning point of view, the timing of the South County search is better than the North County search. This represents a good starting point for discussion.”

One of the possible sites is in the city of San Diego, while the others are in unincorporatedareas of the county. Criteria used to identify potential sites included capacity, accessibility, land use, protection of ground water and natural resources and visibility.

Lehtola said it will take up to three new sites to accommodate the trash disposal needs of the region stretching from Batiquitos Lagoon along the coast to Julian in East County, Campo along the U.S.-Mexico border and back to the coast.

Although existing waste-reduction and recycling programs might cut the amount of trash entering the landfills, the sites eventually selected will be able to handle a “worst-case scenario” of the region’s trash needs for 30 years. Combined, the sites would hold about 210 million cubic yards of solid waste, officials said.

Approval will be required from a plethora of political bodies, including the Board of Supervisors, the San Diego City Council, the state Regional Water Quality Control Board, the county Air Pollution Control District and the California Waste Management Board.

The sites are:

* Oak Canyon, 300 acres, in the city of San Diego, west of the Sycamore landfill.

* Long Valley Peak, 700 acres, south of Interstate 8 across from Laguna Junction.

* Campo Reservation, 350 acres, at the south end of the Indian reservation, near Tierra del Sol.

* An unnamed site, 400 acres, south of California 94, west of Dulzura.

* Marron Valley, 525 acres, south of Engineer Springs, along the international border.

* East Otay Mesa, 425 acres, at the far eastern edge of Otay Mesa, near the border.

Proposed Landfill Sites 1. Oak Canyon, in the city of San Diego, West of Sycamore Landfill. 2. East Otay Mesa, far eastern edge of Otay Mesa, near the U.S.-Mexico border. 3. Unnamed, South of California 94, West of Dulzura. 4. Marron Valley, South of Engineer Springs, along the U.S.-Mexico border. 5. Long Valley Peak, South of 1-8 across from Laguna Junction. 6. Campo Reservation, at the south end of the reservation, near Tierra Del Sol.