Opponents Celebrate as Sunshine Canyon Landfill Begins Temporary Closure

About 40 opponents of the Sunshine Canyon Landfill gathered at the dump’s front gate Saturday and gleefully counted down the last seconds to 4:30 p.m. when the facility’s city permit expired, temporarily shutting down the site.

Landfill owner Browning-Ferris Industries plans to reopen a section of the dump--which straddles the border between the city and county of Los Angeles above Granada Hills--in several months under a county permit. Dump opponents, however, hope the closure will be permanent.

The demonstration appeared more like a New Year’s Eve party as opponents blew horns, chanted “Bye-bye, BFI” and cheered wildly as an employee locked the front gate on San Fernando Road near Balboa Boulevard at 4:30 p.m.

At a table set up near the front entrance, cupcakes and soft drinks were served. One man played “You Are My Sunshine” on his violin as others accompanied him.

“It’s just like Times Square,” said one woman wearing a pink and blue party hat and a T-shirt emblazoned with the words “Save Sunshine Canyon.”

Mary Edwards of Granada Hills threw birdseed in the air as the gates were locked.

“We decided we couldn’t throw confetti--it wasn’t environmentally sound,” said Edwards, who has been fighting to close the dump for seven years.

BFI expects to reopen on county land in January. But the city of Los Angeles has filed suit against the county, hoping to thwart the expansion plans. That suit is scheduled to be heard in Superior Court next month.

“We are going to be in court for awhile,” said Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson, a longtime opponent who lives near the dump.

The City Council has sought to close the landfill because of persistent protests from neighbors, who say it generates dust, odors and heavy traffic. Also, if expanded, the dump will destroy a lush oak forest.

BFI and county sanitation officials have pointed out that Southern California’s landfills are filling up faster than new sites can be found. Each day, 43,000 tons of garbage are generated countywide. Sunshine accepted about 4,500 tons daily.

While Sunshine is closed, trash will be rerouted to the three nearest landfills, Bradley West in Sun Valley, Chiquita Canyon near Santa Clarita and the BKK landfill in West Covina.

Several small contractors weren’t celebrating as they left the landfill Saturday. They said the closure would hurt their businesses and force them to drive to dumps farther away.

“I don’t think they should close it down,” said John Sanchez, 24, a self-employed landscaper and mason based in Sylmar. “We need somewhere to go--and I’m afraid some folks are just going to dump their waste illegally.

“These people knew there was a dump here when they moved here,” Sanchez said. “If they didn’t want to live near a dump, then they should have moved somewhere else.”