Officials Won’t Block BFI’s Hauling of Dirt to Sunshine Landfill

City building officials refused Friday to halt the trucking of tons of dirt to Sunshine Canyon Landfill, an operation that Los Angeles City Councilman Hal Bernson claims is part of a plan to expand the controversial dump.

Senior Department of Building and Safety officials said they had no basis for stopping Browning-Ferris Industries, the dump’s owner, from hauling the dirt. The operation, which began Monday, has resulted in loud protests from Granada Hills residents.

“I’m very disappointed,” said Greig Smith, Bernson’s chief deputy.

Bernson, who represents the area, has allied himself with the landfill’s foes. His office has contended since the hauling began that BFI’s plan is to use the disputed dirt to expand its controversial landfill in defiance of city zoning rules.

The city issued BFI a permit for the dirt hauling as part of a plan to close the portion of the landfill that is located within the city’s boundaries. BFI stopped dumping garbage in that area when its permit expired Sept. 21.

Earlier this year, the County Board of Supervisors approved expansion of the landfill into unincorporated land next to it. But homeowners opposed to the dump recently obtained a court order temporarily blocking any of the preparation work BFI said the landfill needs before it can open.

On Tuesday, Bernson gave BFI an ultimatum: either pledge not to use the soil for expansion or face revocation of the city-issued permit allowing the hauling.

After BFI’s attorney, Linda J. Bozung, declined to make such a promise by Friday, Smith asked city building officials to revoke the permit.

But Larry Westphal, city grading division chief, said that while BFI may intend in the future to use the dirt for purposes not allowed by city zoning laws, the company has not yet violated any city rules. “Bernson’s office says BFI will use it illegally, but we don’t know that for sure,” Westphal said.

Westphal said the department’s decision was reached in consultation with the city attorney’s office.

Upon learning of the decision, Dean Rasmussen, an executive with the contractor C.A. Rasmussen Inc., the firm doing the dirt-hauling work, cried: “Hallelujah!”

“It’s absurd,” said Mary Edwards, a leader of the North Valley Coalition, a group that has been fighting BFI’s dump for years. “The city has a smoking gun. BFI’s refusal to say it wouldn’t use the dirt for its expansion reveals their true illegal intentions.”

Sunshine Canyon Manager Dean Wise could not be reached for comment. Bozung said the city’s case was weak because the firm had all the proper permits to do what it has been doing.

Aerial photos show BFI is stockpiling the disputed dirt along the route of a road the firm plans to build to connect the old landfill site to the new one, Bernson said.

Additionally, a BFI letter filed with the state Regional Water Quality Control Board also shows that the waste management firm intends to use the dirt to develop a leak-resistant liner under its new landfill.

Such evidence reveals BFI’s true intentions are to violate city zoning laws that forbid the use of the dirt for any purpose other than closing the old landfill, Bernson’s office has contended.

But city building officials said Friday that even though Bernson’s suspicions may be right, they have no authority to revoke the permit until BFI acts illegally.

The dirt in question is being excavated for a reservoir at the Jensen Filtration Plant, a Metropolitan Water District facility located near the landfill that is undergoing a $185-million expansion. The plant treats water for about 2.5 million MWD customers in western Los Angeles County and Ventura County.