Study Names Top 5 Sites for New Dump in West County

The top five sites that the Ventura Regional Sanitation District is considering for a new landfill in western Ventura County are in the hills north of Ventura, according to a study released Thursday.

The sites were listed in a long-awaited study of 35 possible locations for a publicly owned dump after the district’s Bailard Landfill near Oxnard closes late in 1993.

A private waste-management firm, which competes with the public sanitation district to provide landfill service, has already filed a proposal with county planners to operate a new landfill in Weldon Canyon five miles south of Ojai and a mile east of California 33.

The top five sites in the new sanitation district study are canyons in the same range of hills as Weldon Canyon, and all are within eight miles of one another.

Sanitation district officials said the landfill study was designed to identify an alternative dump in the event that the county rejects the Weldon Canyon proposal or as a replacement for Weldon Canyon when it is full.

In addition to the Bailard Landfill, the sanitation district, an agency that serves eight of the county’s 10 cities, also operates the Toland Road Landfill near Santa Paula.

The site that ranks highest in the study is Canada Seca, a mostly uninhabited canyon east of California 33 and south of Canada Larga Road.

The study did not include a description of that site. But it ranked Canada Seca high because of the availability of cover soil as well as the canyon’s drainage, its separation from housing tracts and its proximity to ground-water supplies, the study said.

The other top four sites are Aliso Canyon, Harmon Canyon, Head of Leon Canyon and an unnamed area near Head of Leon Canyon. They are all within eight miles of Ventura.

The study said the soil in the area encompassing the five sites contains “fine-grain rocks” that are hard to penetrate and could line and cover a landfill.

Because of budget restraints, the sanitation district’s consultant performed geological studies only on the six sites that the owners were most willing to sell, according to the study.

Those included Aliso and Harmon canyons. Canada Seca was not studied geologically because it is so close to Weldon Canyon that consultants thought its characteristics would be similar. Also, a second dump near Weldon would be hard to sell to nearby residents, the study said.

“These preliminary investigations generally found site characteristics that are consistent with current landfill criteria and requirements,” the study concluded.

However, Dorothy Maron, an Oxnard city councilwoman and sanitation district board member, said that the evaluation was only preliminary and that further analysis is needed before the district can decide if any of the listed sites are viable.

She said the district will probably conduct detailed studies on the top five or six sites.

All 35 sites were ranked by a numerical scoring system that considered access to water supplies and proximity to roads, housing tracts, earthquake faults, wildlife areas, archeological sites and utility lines.

The highest possible score was 1,500, and Canada Seca scored 1,448. Scores for the other four top sites ranged from 1,352 to 1,409.

The district’s study, which cost about $165,000, has been the focus of heated debate among city and county officials in the western county.

Supervisor John K. Flynn, who has lobbied to close the Bailard Landfill, which is in his district, has accused sanitation officials of delaying the release of the site list and maneuvering in secret to keep Bailard open.

Several officials, including Flynn and three other county supervisors, recently urged the district to release the list in time for the County Board of Supervisors to consider it with the Weldon Canyon proposal by Waste Management of North America Inc.

Waste Management purchased the development rights to Weldon Canyon after it was selected in 1985 as the top landfill location in the west county by a county consultant.

Members of the sanitation district’s board agreed Thursday to study the possibility of purchasing or condemning the Weldon Canyon site, and taking over its development from Waste Management. They said they believe that it is important for a landfill to be publicly operated.

District Manager Clint Whitney said the board would pursue condemnation of the canyon site only if a landfill is approved by supervisors early next year.

James Jevens, project manager for Waste Management, said his company would fight a takeover.

Jevens said his company has already invested at least $8 million on studies and analysis at Weldon Canyon and expects to spend another $55 million to build the dump.

He said that before the district can take over the site it must reimburse his company for the $8 million and millions of dollars in profits it anticipates from the landfill.

Ojai Councilwoman Nina Shelley, a sanitation board member, voted against the possible takeover, saying that no matter who operates a landfill in Weldon Canyon, it would produce too much traffic and air pollution in the Ojai Valley.

Whitney said the sanitation district is “under the gun” to identify a new landfill to replace Bailard. Even if the Board of Supervisors approves the Weldon Canyon proposal, the landfill would not open until 1994, he said.

And if the county rejects the Weldon Canyon proposal, the sanitation district’s alternative dump could not open until late 1997.

Because of that time gap, the sanitation district has applied to keep Bailard open until at least 1995. If the extension is rejected, the garbage from the west county would have to be hauled to the Simi Valley Landfill or other dumps temporarily.

Potential Landfill Sites Sites ranked according to the likelihood of their being approved: 1. Canada Sea 2. Head of Leon Canyon 3. Near Head of Leon Canyon 4. Aliso Canyon 5. Harmon Canyon