Protesters Try to Save Forest of Oaks by Halting Expansion of Landfill

Nearly 100 Granada Hills residents blockaded the Sunshine Canyon Landfill Monday morning to protest a planned dump expansion that would destroy more than 6,000 mature oaks, which some people want incorporated into a proposed state park.

Browning-Ferris Industries, which owns the Sunshine Canyon Landfill, is seeking permits to fill adjacent canyon areas--including the woodland--with an additional 215 million tons of trash. The Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission is scheduled to consider the BFI proposal Friday.

Carrying tree-shaped signs that read “Save the Forest,” the demonstrators blocked the landfill’s only entrance for half an hour, causing a backup of about 30 garbage trucks. They withdrew after Los Angeles police officers warned them they would be arrested for trespassing. Garbage truck driver Dickran Sarkisian, 28, whose truck was first in line at the blocked landfill entryway, waited patiently until the path was cleared. He said the delay cost him money, but added he thought the protesters had a viable complaint.

Most demonstrators were members of the North Valley Coalition, a group of area residents who complain that odors, dust and trash from the landfill frequently blow into their neighborhoods.

They also say that they do not want to lose the woodland, a rare blend of oak, big-cone spruce, black walnut and Douglas fir trees, that is home to deer, bobcats and birds. Although the forest is private property, local children have played there for decades, the protesters said.

“Children have always gone in that forest. They know what’s back there, even if the adults don’t,” said Mary Edwards, secretary of the North Valley Coalition. “How can they destroy a forest like this in this day and age? It’s criminal.”

BFI has said that it will plant 2 1/2 trees for each tree that is destroyed, but environmentalists say the planting of seedlings elsewhere would not compensate for the loss of the mature woodland.

State parks authorities are considering the area for inclusion in the proposed Santa Clarita Woodlands State Park, which would encompass about 6,000 acres of canyons and ridges between the Santa Susana Mountains and Towsley Canyon west of the city of Santa Clarita.

Gretchen McIntyre said she wants her grandchildren to enjoy clean air, which she said is threatened by the proposed expansion. Others said they fear the landfill will contaminate the municipal water supply, which runs nearby.

One former landfill employee said he came to the demonstration because he was fired after com-plaining to his employers about health problems he believes are linked to his work at the landfill.

Augustin Carbajal, of North Hollywood, said through his 12-year-old nephew Rafael Montes that he and 10 other workers were fired eight days ago, after they told their employers they were getting sick from landfill fumes.

Carbajal, who said he worked at the landfill for a year and a half, said he developed a stomach ailment. When he told his bosses, he said, he was fired. Now, he said, he wants the landfill closed.

BFI spokesman Mark Ryavec refused to comment on Carbajal’s complaint or on other issues raised by the demonstrators.