State Warns L.A. of Dumping Fines : $1,000-a-Day Threat Is Latest Round in Growing Fight Over Lopez Canyon

State solid waste officials threatened Friday to fine the city of Los Angeles $1,000 a day unless operations are cut back at the city’s Lopez Canyon Landfill.

The California Waste Management Board’s orders escalated the growing conflict over alleged violations at the landfill. City officials said they will fight the orders in court Monday.

The state wants to restrict the amount of daily dumping and reduce the long-term capacity of the landfill. If the city obeys the orders, said Edward J. Avila, president of the city Board of Public Works, the dump will be filled and shut down in about a year, heightening Los Angeles’ trash crisis.

The dump above Lake View Terrace receives two-thirds of the city’s household trash.

State ‘Unreasonable’

“We will go to court to protect Lopez Canyon Landfill,” Avila said. “What’s incredible is that the state has chosen to attack the city’s only landfill and is being totally unreasonable.”

Deputy City Atty. Christopher M. Westoff said he will seek a temporary restraining order in Los Angeles Superior Court to halt the immediate effect of the state’s orders.

State officials said they intend to counter with a request for the court to force Los Angeles to abide by the rules.

The state’s action was spurred by Los Angeles County’s refusal to carry out earlier state orders to reduce intake at the landfill and limit the area in which trash can be dumped. The county Department of Health Services enforces state laws at Lopez Canyon, but refused to impose limits that would force the city to use county landfills, which are also filling rapidly.

The central issue is whether Lopez Canyon is bound by a restrictive 1978 state permit that limits trash intake to 400 trucks a day, caps the height of the landfill at 1,725 feet and confines dumping to 140 acres of the 392-acre site.

The state says the 1978 permit is valid.

The city, however, says a less stringent, 1983 engineering report filed with the state had amended the permit. That report, which reflects current landfill operations, allows up to 600 trucks a day, a 1,740-foot height and a wider dumping area.

The dump takes in about 4,000 tons of trash a day. The state orders would reduce that to about 3,100 tons a day.

New Permit Application

In refusing to enforce the state orders, the county allowed city officials to operate under the 1983 permit as long as they applied to the state for a new one.

“We had hoped the county would enforce the orders,” said Chris Peck, spokesman for the state Waste Management Board. “Our position is that the state is ultimately responsible for enforcing the permit.”

The city filed suit last month to settle the dispute. A Sept. 26 hearing date has been set.

“The bottom line is the state is acting in bad faith because this matter is already before the court,” Westoff said, adding that he believes the city is on firm legal grounds because it is abiding by the county order and has applied for a new permit.

In addition, both city and county officials argue that the state orders are not valid because they were issued by executive staff members of the waste board and not by a vote of its nine members.

Peck said board regulations allow the executive staff to issue such orders.

Lake View Terrace residents, who have long complained of noise, odors, blowing trash and heavy truck traffic in their hillside neighborhoods, expressed anger at the city’s refusal to abide by state orders.

“It is a waste of energy and taxpayers’ money for the city to fight this,” said Dennis Ghiatis, of the Kagel Canyon Civic Assn. “The time and money can be better spent solving the problems.”