Cure for Trash Crisis

The approval July 13 by the San Marcos City Council of the conditional-use permit for the expansion of the San Marcos/San Diego County landfill came with its claim that a “trash crisis” exists, the landfill is now at capacity, and that landfill expansion (with unprecedented “host fees” to San Marcos for every ton) is the first necessary step toward resolution. It claims that its proposed trash-to-energy plant, a $325-million incinerator, is the next.

As near neighbors watching this trash mountain mutate into the mother of all toxic time bombs, we don’t understand why the county is ignoring the simple and no-cost solution to gain capacity, and thus time to site a new landfill.

This solution involves restoring the availability of a 16-acre piece of the landfill for the storage of trash. This site, already fully permitted for that purpose, has been withheld for a growing number of years as the proposed site of the incinerator. This site will hold over six years worth of trash at the current fill rate. Six years should provide enough time to certify one of several new North County landfill sites and, more importantly, avoid the approximately $30 million the county will need to spend to complete the expansion.

This does not preclude the building of the incinerator. Right next to the 16 acres is another 70 acres slated for the Encina Sludge Composting Facility, which is large enough to contain both projects.

EVELYN ALEMANNI, Escondido