Landfill Study Raises Fears of Westside Clout : Environment: Affluent and powerful neighbors to the south may steer dump sites to the canyons in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys, groups say after report details waste-disposal options.

A report classing certain mountain canyons as suitable for future landfills increases pressure to put more dumps in the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys because Westside interests have the power to keep them out of their affluent neighborhoods, Valley politicians and environmentalists said Friday.

Their skeptical analysis was just one of many reactions to the release Friday of a draft environmental impact report on possible dump sites.

The report said that Blind, Towsley and Elsmere canyons above the Santa Clarita and San Fernando valleys, along with a Westside site encompassing Mission, Rustic and Sullivan canyons, could be used as landfills without polluting ground water supplies.

Officials and environmentalists spent part of Friday ordering or picking up copies of the thick report and promised to scrutinize its data and conclusions, looking for flaws which could be used to block landfills from operating in their areas.

Santa Clarita Mayor Jo Anne Darcy, whose city would be flanked by dumps in Elsmere Canyon on the east and Towsley Canyon on the west, said of sanitation officials, “They’re asking for a full-fledged battle out here.”

Darcy recalled the successful fight Santa Clarita Valley residents waged against plans for a toxic waste dump in Towsley Canyon in 1980.

“We fought that viciously and won,” she said.

The report acknowledges that new landfills would destroy wildlife habitat and that rumbling garbage trucks would create noise and traffic problems.

But overall, the report says, environmental problems could be corrected or at least minimized through efficient design and operation of the landfills.

The report also calls for expanding existing dumps, increased recycling and a reduction in waste.

The report was prepared under the direction of the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts and county Department of Public Works.

The public has until Nov. 1 to comment on the report before a final version is prepared for the governing board of the sanitation districts and the County Board of Supervisors.

The districts have long considered the four sites for landfills and the report’s conclusion did not come as a surprise, Hunt Braly, an aide to state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita), said.

Davis, along with the Santa Clarita City Council and Supervisor Mike Antonovich, opposes a dump in Towsley Canyon, touted by wildlife enthusiasts as prime land for a state park.

Notwithstanding the report’s conclusions on three Westside canyons, it is clear that influential supervisors and Los Angeles City Council members will never permit a dump in that neighborhood, he said.

The three scenic canyons--Mission, Rustic and Sullivan--are in the Santa Monica Mountains above Brentwood.

“We all know those are even less politically feasible than Towsley and Elsmere,” Braly said.

In fact, the Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles City Council have already said that if a dump is opened in Elsmere Canyon, Mission, Rustic and Sullivan canyons will be declared off-limits for use as a landfill.

Rob Zapple, who has long fought expansion of the Lopez Canyon Landfill above Lake View Terrace, said the environmental analysis of Mission-Rustic-Sullivan was merely a public relations ploy designed to give the impression that the county is considering dump sites outside the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys.

Observers differed on the significance of the report.

Braly said it shows the sanitation districts want to locate all new landfills in northern Los Angeles County.

“They want both Elsmere and Towsley, plus Sunshine Canyon,” he said, referring to the proposed expansion of the dump above Granada Hills.

The concentration of so many dumps in one area would make the region the “armpit of Los Angeles,” Braly said.

But Marsha McLean of the Santa Clarita Valley Canyons Preservation Committee doubted the county is committed to opening a dump in Towsley Canyon, saying it was a political smoke screen meant to divert attention away from plans for a landfill in Elsmere Canyon.

The reliance on landfills could reduce efforts to recycle and reduce the amount of solid waste in general, said Jill Ratner, Venice-based director of Citizens for a Better Environment, a statewide group.

“My initial reaction concern is that . . . it sounds like the county sanitation districts are still moving ahead on landfill development without having a good source reduction and recycling plan in place, and that still is putting the cart before the horse,” Ratner said.

Observers were taken by surprise by the report’s revelation that a private developer, Dale Poe Development Corp., had proposed building a dump in El Toro Canyon, a mile north of Blind Canyon, above Chatsworth.

El Toro Canyon is not a suitable site now because of its remote location, but might be considered a possible landfill site once Blind Canyon is filled, the report says.

Staff Writer Myron Levin contributed to this story.