Operators Say New Landfill Plan Will Save 1,000 Trees

The operators of Sunshine Canyon Landfill, who have proposed more than doubling the size of the dump, told Los Angeles County planning commissioners touring the site Monday that they will submit a new plan next month to preserve 1,000 of the 8,613 trees slated for destruction under the company’s initial proposal.

The new plan is a response to county planners who asked the dump’s owner, Browning-Ferris Industries, to develop alternative proposals that could save the unusual blend of oak, big-cone spruce and Douglas fir trees in the upper reaches of the canyon.

The tree removal is one of the most controversial aspects of the planned expansion, which is opposed by the North Valley Coalition, a Granada Hills residents group that wants Sunshine Canyon included in a proposed state park.

Details of the new plan will be presented at the second public hearing on the project, scheduled for 4 p.m. Nov. 2 at Kennedy High School in Granada Hills.

BFI had proposed expanding its existing 230-acre dump into 542 acres of unincorporated county territory north of Granada Hills. It would preserve the 1,000 trees by reducing the proposed area by about 40 acres, said James T. Aidukas, director of environmental affairs for BFI’s Pacific region.

The commissioners, making their first visit, toured the dump without comment.

Supervising regional planner Richard Frazier characterized BFI’s new plan as “in between the two things requested” by planners at the first public hearing, on Oct. 4. In addition to preserving trees, planners asked BFI to develop an alternative plan that would reduce the 70 million tons of trash the company would like the dump to accommodate.

The new plan, however, does not address the amount of trash that would be dumped at the landfill. “By making adjustments in the overall design, we could save trees and still have the same capacity,” Aidukas said.