Dump Closure Decision Postponed : Oxnard: The City Council wants to meet with landfill and county officials before deciding how long the Bailard site should remain open.

Although most Oxnard City Council members want to close the Bailard Landfill within three years, the council voted unanimously Tuesday to study the matter further before making a final decision.

Council members Gerry Furr, Michael Plisky and Manuel Lopez said Oxnard has been host to the landfill long enough and said they oppose extending Bailard’s operating permit past its 1993 deadline until 1995.

However, they voted with Mayor Nao Takasugi and Councilwoman Dorothy Maron to delay a vote on a permit extension until they have met with county waste management officials and landfill operators from the Ventura County Regional Sanitation District.

The council asked City Manager Vernon Hazen to arrange the meeting and file a report by Jan. 15, outlining who should attend the meeting and when the gathering should take place.

The Bailard dump receives trash from five cities in western Ventura County.

Several residents from nearby neighborhoods asked the council to reject the extension, saying Bailard generates too many foul odors, too much traffic and too much litter on nearby streets.

Wayne Bruce, head of the sanitation district, urged the council to approve the extension, saying it would give the district time to open an alternative site.

Oxnard’s support for the extension is vital because the landfill is located near Victoria Boulevard, within the city’s sphere of influence.

The extension must also be approved by the County Board of Supervisors, the county Environmental Health Department and the state Regional Water Quality Control Board.

The landfill receives a total of about 1,500 tons of solid waste per day from the cities of Ventura, Oxnard, Camarillo, Port Hueneme, Ojai and unincorporated county areas. The city of Oxnard delivers about 500 tons of waste per day.

The sanitation district also operates and owns the Toland Road Landfill, the repository for trash from Santa Paula, Fillmore and nearby unincorporated areas.

Bruce said that without the extension, the sanitation district would be put on a tight schedule to find an alternative landfill site.

“I don’t see another landfill being operational within another 30 months,” he said. “In summary, I find that we are at the brink of a waste disposal crisis.”

The most likely alternative site is in the Weldon Canyon area near California 33 and Canada Larga Road. A 1985 county study identified Weldon Canyon as the best location for a western Ventura County landfill. A draft environmental impact report on the Weldon Canyon landfill is expected later this month.

However, landowners adjacent to the Weldon Canyon site have threatened to file a lawsuit to prevent a a dump from being put in that area. Such a lawsuit could delay for years the opening of a landfill in Weldon Canyon.

Hazen, who recommended the permit extension, suggested in a report that the city consider charging Bailard a fee of $1 to $2 for each ton of waste dumped in the landfill.

He said if the extension were granted, the sanitation district would have two more years to collect fees to cover the cost of closing the dump and perhaps developing a regional park on the site.

James M. Jevens, manager of a firm that operates a private landfill in Simi Valley, disagreed with Bruce’s prediction that no other landfill will be operating in western Ventura County in the next 2 1/2 years. He said his company, Waste Management of North America, is planning to open the Weldon Canyon landfill before 1993.

He said an environmental impact report on a landfill in Weldon Canyon will be completed by Jan. 14.

Jevens said his company would also fight any litigation that may delay the opening of landfill. However, if the opening of the Weldon Canyon landfill is delayed, he said, the Simi Valley landfill can accept an additional 2,100 tons of solid waste per day.