WELDON CANYON : Decision Delayed on Landfill Report
Officials Wednesday ended the review period for an environmental report on the proposed Weldon Canyon landfill but decided to allow county staff five more weeks to review testimony before deciding whether to approve it.
Nearly all of the 25 speakers at the Environmental Report Review Committee’s final public hearing demanded that the document be recirculated for additional public comments. They contended that it did not properly address negative impacts on those communities that would surround the landfill.
The report on the landfill, to be run by Waste Management Inc. on a site between Ventura and Ojai, has been open for public comment since Nov. 21.
The comment period was to end Dec. 11 but was extended until Wednesday by a unanimous vote of the committee last month. County Planner Scott Ellison argued that 56 days were sufficient.
Ojai Councilwoman Nina Shelley disagreed with Ellison, repeating the city’s stance that the report was flawed.
Many other critics were residents of Ojai, Valley Vista and Oak View, who stand to be most affected by the landfill.
Chief among their concerns was the omission of a discussion on valley fever, which some health professionals have said could be transmitted by dust dispersed into the air.
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