State Seeks to Strip County of Its Power Over Dumps

Citing the failure of the Los Angeles County Health Services Department “to consistently fulfill its responsibilities” to enforce health and safety standards at 83 garbage dumps and transfer facilities, the staff of the state agency that regulates waste dumping is seeking to strip the county of its oversight authority.

In documents released Tuesday, the staff of the state Solid Waste Management Board outlined a laundry list of complaints--some going back to 1983--against the county for allegedly lax enforcement at a variety of trash facilities, including the Puente Hills Landfill, Santa Monica transfer station, Antelope Valley Public Dump and the Lopez Canyon Landfill in the San Fernando Valley.

County officials dismissed the complaints, saying the state action was precipitated by the county’s refusal to order the city of Los Angeles to shut down its landfill in Lopez Canyon. The county has been in the middle of a legal fight between the city and the state over problems at the landfill, including the amount of trash dumped there daily.

Enforce Policies

The recommendation, which would give the county 30 days to toughen its enforcement policies, is scheduled to be considered by the board during a two-day meeting in Sacramento, beginning on Thursday. Chris Peck, a spokesman for the board, said that if the board accepts the staff recommendation, the state could, at least temporarily, enforce its own policies at most trash facilities in Los Angeles County. Currently, he said, the agency has not assumed that authority anywhere in the state.

Since 1978, the county has acted as the enforcement arm for the state at most waste facilities in the county. But in recent months, the relationship has soured as the state has sought to impose restrictions on the operation of the Lopez Canyon, which receives two-thirds of the city’s household trash. Earlier this month, city officials won a temporary court reprieve from a state order to restrict dumping there.

The board staff report is the latest salvo in the escalating battle between state and local officials over what to do about the mounting trash crisis in Los Angeles County. Peck said it also signals an effort by the board to take “a harder look at the enforcement program.”

Peck acknowledged that the staff report was prompted, in part, by the continuing fight over enforcement of restrictions on the operation of the Lopez Canyon Landfill, which is in Lake View Terrace.

But Charles W. Coffee, who directs the county health department’s solid waste management program, suggested that the strongly worded staff report is “probably all precipitated by Lopez Canyon . . . I can’t think of any other reason.”

Coffee said that he would oppose the state taking over enforcement responsibility.

“We believe we’ve done an exceptional job,” he said.

‘Has Been Remiss’

But in its report, the Solid Waste Management Board’s staff says the county “has been remiss in properly enforcing solid-waste facility permits.”

In particular, the report says the county “has failed to enforce the permit conditions” at Lopez Canyon regulating the amount of trash, where it can be dumped, how high it can be piled and the number of trucks allowed to enter the facility since at least September, 1987, and, in some instances, back to June, 1983.

The report also contends that the county has failed to crack down on other facilities in the county for exceeding the weight and volume conditions outlined in their permits. For example, the report says, that the Antelope Valley Public Dump is allowed to take 500 tons of trash a day but actually accepts 750 tons, the Calabasas Landfill is allowed 3,100 tons a day but accepts 4,200 tons and the City of Commerce trash-to-energy incinerator is allowed 470 tons but accepts 700 tons.

The county’s Coffee declined to provide a detailed response until the board meeting Thursday. He questioned whether the state has the manpower to inspect dumps and review landfill permits, but he declined to criticize state authorities, saying, “I don’t want to confront the board. I don’t want to make people mad.”