Landfill Siting

Now that the San Diego County Board of Supervisors has recognized the incinerator for the risky deal it was with their no vote, the time arrives for us to take the sensible step towards handling our trash. The disappearance of the incinerator leaves the 16 acres reserved for it available to receive trash. This 16 acres is specified as a trash storage site in the original landfill environmental impact report, and it is already fully permitted for that purpose.

Because every incoming load is weighed, we can accurately calculate that this site will hold over six years worth of trash at the current fill rate. Six years of capacity should provide enough time to identify reasonable long-term options for handling our trash--and at no additional cost to county residents.

The undesirable short-term options, such as transfer to other county landfills (county staff reports the permits for a transfer station would take a minimum of nine months), and the threats of San Marcos’ Mayor Lee Thibadeau to deny cooperation with the county and neighboring cities, makes this an even simpler decision.

JOSEPH ALEMANNI, Escondido