County Urged to Buy 3 New Landfill Sites : Trash: The suggestion is prompted by fears that the county is running out of time and locations for new dumps.

After reviewing a draft environmental impact report, the county staff Wednesday called for approval and use of three potential North County landfill sites to replace the rapidly filling San Marcos dump.

The county recommendation to approve all three sites, however, came as a surprise to some local officials and to community activists opposing the opening of a new landfill because earlier discussions had focused on the use of only one or two of the sites.

Anticipating that the San Marcos landfill will reach capacity in 1991, county officials have spent the past five years searching for an alternate dump.

A list that once included as many as 150 alternative sites had recently been narrowed to three: Aspen Road between Fallbrook and Rainbow; Blue Canyon northwest of Warner Springs; and Gregory Canyon, southwest of Pala.

“There are no fatal flaws in these three sites with respect to their use as a landfill,” said David Janssen, the county’s assistant chief administrative officer. “However, there will obviously be a lot of concerns about all three.”

Neighborhood residents already are voicing such concerns.

“We’re very worried about our water getting contaminated,” said Betty Lee, a member of the board of directors of FRIENDS, Fallbrook and Rainbow Interested in Environment/No Dump Site. The group opposes a landfill at the Aspen Road site, which has an open reservoir.

“We’re always hearing that the county is on a tight budget,” Lee added. “I’m surprised that they want to develop all three sites. Do you realize how expensive that’s going to be?”

None of the properties has been appraised, but officials estimate that all three could be purchased for a total of $15 million. Construction and operation costs for three new landfills would approach $400 million.

The money to purchase the land, to prepare and to operate the landfills would be obtained from the county’s solid waste enterprise fund--revenue generated from a tipping fee, or charge assessed garbage haulers for the use of the landfill, Janssen said.

The three sites were evaluated in the draft report, which is due to be released officially today. The draft, prepared jointly by the county of San Diego and the Federal Bureau of Land Management, is expected to be presented in its final version to the county Board of Supervisors in late May. A selection of a new site or sites is also expected at that time.

Since none of the three sites, individually, met the primary criteria of having a minimum 30-year life capacity, officials quickly opted to approve the use of more than one site, Janssen said.

County officials also wanted to secure all three sites now because they fear that it will become increasingly difficult to find suitable locations as development in North County intensifies.

“Because of growth, it will become difficult to site anything in North County,” Janssen said. “There was a feeling that we would lose a good, potential site unless we reserved it now.”

In addition, Janssen said, the county’s recommendation preserves for the supervisors the opportunity to evaluate all the alternatives themselves. The draft will be available for public review and comment for the next 60 days, then it will be revised and reviewed by the county Planning Commission before it is resubmitted to the supervisors in late May.

Although Supervisor John MacDonald had previously expressed hopes of acquiring more than one site, even he said he was surprised by the county staff’s recommendation to purchase and use all three properties. But MacDonald declined to endorse the recommendation.

“I was not expecting a recommendation to buy all three,” said MacDonald, who has been leading the search for a new landfill. “We’ve got a long way to go before we can make a decision. I want to hear the public’s comments about the EIR before I take a certain direction on this matter.

“At this point, I am not committing to any of the combinations made by staff today,” MacDonald added.

In the case that all three sites could not be acquired, county officials recommended the paired purchase of sites in the following order: Gregory Canyon and Blue Canyon; Aspen Road and Blue Canyon; Aspen Road and Gregory Canyon. The least preferred option was the purchase of only one site; a specific location was not named in this case.

According to county officials, it will take five to seven years to prepare a new landfill.

“It would be unlikely that we would try to build two simultaneously,” Janssen said. “Most likely, we’ll build them one at a time.” Meanwhile, county officials are searching for means to extend the San Marcos landfill seven to 10 years.