Landfill Asked to Bar L.A. : Calabasas: Mike Antonovich wants to restrict access to the county’s dump because the city denied expansion at Sunshine Canyon.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich on Tuesday proposed closing Los Angeles County’s landfill in Calabasas to all trash generated in the city of Los Angeles.

The supervisor’s aides said the proposal was prompted in part by the city’s recent decision to kill a proposal by Browning-Ferris Industries to expand the Sunshine Canyon Landfill above Granada Hills. Browning-Ferris officials said they were forced to cut back the daily dumping from 3,000 tons to 700 tons this week because of the city’s decision.

Antonovich was concerned that more trash trucks would be diverted to the Calabasas landfill because of Sunshine Canyon’s reduced capacity, said Rosa Kortizija, an Antonovich deputy.

“The trash that used to go to BFI will now go elsewhere. The life of our landfill could be shortened,” Kortizija said.

“We’re just trying to make sure the county residents have a place to put their trash,” she added.

Antonovich proposed his plan at a closed-door executive session with supervisors Tuesday. He hopes to introduce the ordinance authorizing a ban at next Tuesday’s meeting.

City trash trucks dump 700 to 1,000 tons a day at the Calabasas landfill, said Del Biagi, the city’s Bureau of Sanitation director. He said 70 to 100 city trucks would have to go elsewhere if the ban takes effect.

“We’d be going around to all the existing landfills to see who has existing capacity. There aren’t many of those around,” Biagi said.

Biagi expressed surprise that the county would try to stop city access to the Calabasas dump.

“The Calabasas landfill is located at such a place that it is obviously intended to serve the West Valley. There would be a real question of why the city would be foreclosed from using the site.”

The city picks up 6,000 tons of trash a day--most of it from single-family homes and small apartment buildings, said Anna Sklar, a spokeswoman for the city’s sanitation bureau. The majority--4,000 tons--is dumped at Lopez Canyon Landfill.

But Antonovich’s proposal would also deny access to private haulers who pick up refuse from businesses, condominiums and large apartment buildings in the city.

According to county statistics, 50% of the trash dumped at the Calabasas landfill comes from private haulers who collect it in the city. Another 12% of the waste comes from Ventura County and 13% comes from smaller cities such as Hidden Hills, Westlake Village and Agoura Hills.

Antonovich’s motion would ensure that those small cities would continue to have dumping privileges at the Calabasas landfill, which accepts 3,000 tons a day. The landfill is expected to continue operating until about the year 2007.

If approved by the supervisors, Antonovich’s motion would still need approval of the county’s sanitation districts.