Planners’ Rejection of N. County Landfill Sites Is Far Too Hasty : Supervisors Should Reverse That Decision

Since 1985, county staff members have been searching for the right site for a North County landfill. During those five long years, they have trimmed the list from 168 candidates to the three they presented to the Planning Commission on Aug. 31.

But the Planning Commission, in refusing to approve a necessary zoning change and certify an environmental impact report, would have the staff go out and evaluate still more sites. That process could add a year or more to the search for a new dump.

Why the hasty rejection? The Board of Supervisors should take its staff’s recommendation and reverse the decision to dismiss these sites out of hand.

Then the board should commission further study of possible ground-water contamination that the Planning Commissioners found so daunting.

The time for a new North County landfill is here. If not expanded, the San Marcos dump will reach its 7-million-ton capacity next year; if it is expanded, the landfill might last until 1995.

Even if North County residents ultimately are willing to pay the expense of trucking trash to existing landfills in other parts of the county, there are perhaps 10 years until space runs out.

That’s how long it took Orange County to site the Bee Canyon landfill it opened earlier this year, because of the complicated permit process involved.

That facility is described as the high-tech landfill of the future, with clay and polyethylene liners and a sophisticated drainage system to protect the ground water below.

Could such a system be successfully installed here? We’ll never know if the supervisors follow the planning commissioners’ lead and take these landfill sites off the list prematurely.