OJAI : City May Send Letter on Landfill Study

The Ojai City Council will consider signing a 24-page letter to Ventura County officials Tuesday detailing concerns that the Weldon Canyon landfill study fails to comply with state environmental laws.

Prepared by Los Angeles attorney Benjamin Kaufman at the council’s request, the letter examines the county’s draft environmental study for the proposed dump five miles south of Ojai.

County planners have called the three-year study “state of the art” in answering opponents’ questions about the canyon site north of Ventura and a mile east of California 33.

Councilwoman Nina Shelley said she expects to submit the letter as testimony for the county’s first public hearing on the report May 29.

“I can’t speak for the council, but I hope they will see it is very complete,” Shelley said. City Manager Andrew Belknap is also urging the council’s approval.

Kaufman said the study repeatedly fails to meet requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.

Kaufman is one of the region’s experts in state environmental laws. As a civil engineer and lawyer, Kaufman helped 10 cities in Ventura County draft a contract for Waste Management of North America Inc. to run the Simi Valley Landfill, Shelley said. Waste Management is the contractor interested in opening a landfill in Weldon Canyon.

Kaufman’s analysis concludes that the Weldon study is based on outdated facts, fails to fully address potential environmental impacts, inadequately reviews other possible dump sites and relies on “illusory” findings that ecological damage can be reduced by conditions placed on landfill operations.

“I’m very satisfied with Ben’s work,” Shelley said Saturday. “There are some very serious points that need to be addressed.”