Supervisors Adopt Proposal to Increase Size of Waste Dump : Trash: Action extends life of Sunshine Canyon Landfill by up to 10 years. Approval touches off threats of legal action to prevent expansion.

After months of delay, the Los Angeles County supervisors on Tuesday voted to nearly double the size of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill onto more than 200 acres of hilly land near Granada Hills, extending the dump’s life by up to 10 years.

The approval touched off threats of legal action against the county from Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, whose district includes an adjacent city portion of the dump, and from a coalition of neighbors and environmentalists who had been fighting for several years to close the facility.

The supervisors approved dumping of 17 million tons of garbage in the dump, far less than the 70 million tons the dump’s operator, Browning-Ferris Industries, had sought. The new dumping will expand the landfill, currently 230 acres, onto an additional 200 acres BFI already owns.

The action also would permit dumping of an additional 83 million tons--for a total of 100 million--if the Los Angeles City Council allows use of the half of the landfill inside city limits.

Because of the complexity of the permit and changes made Tuesday by the supervisors, some details of the proposal must receive final formal approval in a vote scheduled for Feb. 14.

The issue has been debated by the board and the county Regional Planning Commission for a year.

Bernson’s chief deputy, Greig Smith, called the supervisors’ action “abominable” and said Bernson had asked city attorney to investigate whether elements of the plan violate environmental law.

“If the city doesn’t sue, we sure will,” Smith said.

More than 70 people attended the board’s meeting to protest the plan, but only Supervisor Mike Antonovich, whose district includes the dump, voted against the proposal.

Antonovich said he feared the approval would “take the pressure off the Sanitation Districts and others to come up with viable alternatives” to filling canyons with trash.

The county Sanitation Districts have predicted that without any landfill growth Los Angeles County, which has about 10 major landfills, could run out of space for its garbage by the end of this year.

Saul Pardo, a project engineer in the planning division of the Sanitation Districts, said the vote “helps, but it doesn’t help that much” in light of the estimated 47,300 tons of garbage a day produced in county areas in 1990.

Sunshine Canyon has taken 5% to 10% of the trash generated in the county.

Supervisor Ed Edelman, who through redistricting gained some San Fernando Valley neighborhoods near the dump, joined the majority. He said the urgent need for more landfill space outweighed his usual concern for the environment.

“There’s an overriding public need to see that we have sufficient landfill sites,” Edelman said.

Edelman said he hoped the county would be able to more closely monitor BFI’s activities through various conditions attached to the approval. One condition requires the formation of a citizens advisory committee responsible for alerting county administrators to problems and violations at the site.

After the 4-1 vote, members of the North Valley Coalition said they will begin raising money to sue the county and BFI. For the past year they have concentrated on promoting a compromise allowing the landfill to accept 10 million more tons in the least environmentally sensitive area, thus saving an oak forest.

Antonovich proposed the 10-million-ton limit on Tuesday, but received no support after county planners said the area designated could hold only about 5 million tons.

“When we get to the point where we consider destruction of our environment and endangering the health and safety of millions of people, it’s time to be more responsible about what we’re doing with our garbage,” said Sue Vila, a coalition member.

During Tuesday’s hearing, Vila added to that list the windblown landfill dust which she said could pollute a nearby reservoir. County planning analyses did not include this threat, she said.

Representatives of BFI described the supervisors’ decision as “workable.”

The firm also agreed to a county provision intended to influence the city’s decision on whether to allow dumping on land under city jurisdiction: If the council does not agree to accept at least 20 million additional tons inside city limits, city garbage will be barred from the county landfill in 1993.

Smith called that provision “blackmail.”