Supervisors Identify 4 Possible Landfill Sites : New Dump Would Take North County’s Trash by 1994; Curb-Side Recycling Plan to Be Studied

The Board of Supervisors, faced with a growing trash-disposal problem, voted Wednesday to consider four of Orange County’s eastern canyons as possible sites for a new landfill and to explore a curb-side recycling program.

Two of the county’s existing landfills are scheduled to reach capacity and close in the next six years, leaving North Orange County without a place to dump its trash by 1994 unless an alternative is found.

The four canyons to be studied for a possible new landfill--Gypsum, West Fremont, Blind and Olinda--were selected from a list of 15 potential sites. The Olinda site in Brea would be an expansion of the existing landfill.

Supervisor Gaddi H. Vasquez, whose 3rd District includes all four sites, also proposed that the county consider policies that would reduce the amount of trash to be dumped.

“We have reached the stage in this county where--if we don’t revamp the way we dispose of our trash--we are going to be in the same situation as Los Angeles,” Vasquez said. “The action to identify future alternative sites is not going to be sufficient.”

The alternatives to be studied include a curb-side recycling program in which residents would separate their glass, paper and cans before they are picked up. Another possible program would require trash haulers to separate the trash before it is sent to the landfill.

After the 90-day study, Vasquez said, the board will consider whether to implement the plan and whether it should be made mandatory, voluntary or tested as a pilot program. If implemented, the program would also be limited to the unincorporated areas of the county.

A new landfill in Orange County could operate between 27 and 600 years, depending on the site selected.

The County Environmental Management Agency has recommended that the Olinda landfill be expanded to operate for 30 more years, and that the county purchase another canyon as a long-term dump site. The supervisors will wait until an environmental impact report on the four sites is completed in about 10 months before deciding whether to follow that recommendation.

In the meantime, the proposal to convert a canyon to a landfill is drawing protests from environmentalists, city officials, and the Irvine Co., which owns most of the canyons.

Sherry Meddick, president of the Rural Canyon Residents Assn., said the 1,930-acre West Fremont Canyon bordering Cleveland National Forest would be the worst choice of the four proposed sites. Destroying the canyon would harm deer, the rare Tecate cypress tree and other wildlife, she said.

Esther Berkett, a wildlife biologist for the California Department of Fish and Game, also asked that West Fremont be dropped as a proposed landfill site.

“Both forks of this canyon contain critical wildlife habitat,” Berkett said.

It would cost the county about $118 million to acquire West Fremont Canyon and build the dump.

The Brea City Council is adamantly opposed to the proposal to expand the Olinda landfill, which would cost the county about $36 million.

“Our Brea community will be forced to endure these burdens for many more years to come” if supervisors approve the expansion, Mayor Gene A. Leyton said. The expansion would also delay by about 30 years a plan to convert the dump into a regional park.

And the Irvine Co. sent a letter to the county complaining that “we have accommodated more than our share of landfill sites to meet the needs of the County of Orange, and we are opposed to the further study of any of the canyons on our property for new landfill purposes.”

Both Coyote Canyon and Santiago Canyon landfills are on property owned by the Irvine Co., which also owns West Fremont and Blind canyons, and most of Gypsum Canyon. Orange County owns Olinda Canyon.

Several supervisors expressed doubts about establishing a dump in Gypsum Canyon, which could contain 600 years’ worth of garbage if a county jail is not built there. If a jail is built, the landfill could pose potential health problems for inmates and employees. Also, artesian wells in the lower reaches of the canyon are linked to ground water that could become polluted by trash, environmental studies show.

The environmental study of the four sites will be conducted by the consulting firm of Michael Brandman Associates. A draft of the report should be available in February, with a decision by the Board of Supervisors likely in about a year, said Jerry Mitchell of the Environmental Management Agency.

North Orange County Landfill Site Proposals Alternative Landfill Sites:1. Olinda/ Olinda Canyon 2. Olinda / Beta Expansion 3. Gypsum Canyon 4. Coal Canyon 5. East Fremon Canyon 6. North Black Star Canyon 7. West Fremont Canyon 8. Blind Canyon 9. Canyon North of Irvine Park 10. Weir Canyon