Residents Fear Dump Would Taint Water

Santa Clarita Valley officials and residents called Tuesday night for a rigorous environmental review of the proposed Elsmere Canyon landfill, saying that plans backed by Los Angeles County and city to fill the canyon with 190 tons of garbage would contaminate local drinking water and destroy the quality of life in the nearby valley.

Santa Clarita City Manager George Caravalho also called for intensive recycling and new programs, such as hauling garbage by rail to remote sites, to reduce Los Angeles County’s dependence on landfills close to urban areas.

“We do not want to become the Valley of the Dumps,” he said, referring to plans for landfills in Elsmere Canyon and Towsley Canyon, both just outside the city of Santa Clarita.

Caravalho spoke at the first of two public forums to be held this week to gather public comment for the environmental impact report being prepared on the proposed Elsmere Canyon dump. Officials predict a draft of the report will be completed by next August.

The meeting, held at the William S. Hart High School Auditorium in Santa Clarita, was sponsored by the U.S. Forest Service and the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning, which are overseeing the drafting of the environmental report.

Part of the proposed dump site lies within Angeles National Forest, a mile east of the Antelope Valley Freeway and San Fernando Road interchange. The dump has been proposed by BKK Corp., a waste disposal firm, with the backing of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors and Los Angeles City Council, which have agreed to buy out the private firm once the dump was established.

Robert A. Cochran, an aide to Rep. Carlos J. Moorhead (R-Glendale), said the congressman opposes the dump, noting that thousands of homeowners moved to the Santa Clarita Valley because of its pleasant and inviting atmosphere.

“This life is threatened by the Elsmere Canyon project,” Cochran said.

In a statement read by a spokesman, state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Santa Clarita) said there is a “very real threat” of pollutants seeping through the dump’s protective lining and into the local water table, from which the city draws half its water supplies.

Slightly more than 200 people attended the meeting, a crowd considerably smaller than the 300 to 500 residents city officials had hoped to attract through a publicity campaign.

The city took out newspaper advertisements and, working with two school districts, last Friday and Monday handed out 15,000 flyers to school children urging their parents to attend the meeting.

The second public meeting will be held tonight at 7 at the Granada Hills Woman’s Club, 10666 White Oak Ave., Granada Hills.