Weldon Canyon Landfill Study Is Adequate, Committee Says

An environmental study of the proposed Weldon Canyon landfill is adequate, a group of county planners declared Wednesday, paving the way for a Board of Supervisors vote this summer.

The Environmental Report Review Committee’s decision came over the objections of environmentalists, who contend that the 2,000-page study failed to address sufficiently the threat of Valley Fever posed by the landfill.

Several environmental groups plan to ask the supervisors to reject the report because it does not explore the risk of disease, said Pat Baggerly, a director of the Environmental Coalition of Ventura County.

“There isn’t any substantial evidence in the record to prove that Valley Fever is not a significant threat,” Baggerly said.

Each year, about 150,000 people in Mexico and the southwestern United States contract Valley Fever, which is spread by spores in airborne dust, according to a physician who addressed supervisors last month. Few people recognize the disease because its symptoms are similar to those of a cold, but it kills about 50 people a year in this country, he said.

The county committee decided, however, that measures taken to mitigate other environmental impacts of the dump will eliminate any significant threat of Valley Fever. Those measures include routinely watering the landfill with a nontoxic chemical that holds down dust.

The committee did require that before the environmental report is sent to the Planning Commission for consideration, it should be amended to reflect “legitimate disagreement among experts” about Valley Fever.

The report was prepared by county staff members and consultants, and was financed by Waste Management Inc., the company that wants to spend $30 million to build the 105-acre landfill a few miles north of Ventura. The dump would serve 420,000 people in western Ventura County for at least 30 years. It would replace the Bailard Landfill near Oxnard, which the Ventura Regional Sanitation District must close by 1993, barring approval of the district’s request for a permit extension.

The Weldon Canyon environmental study, begun more than three years ago, was previously amended in response to nearly 400 public comments. It ultimately lists 10 major environmental impacts that could not be reduced to less than significant levels, including air pollution, noise, odor, dust and toxic gas.

The review committee’s vote Wednesday was not an endorsement of the environmental study, but merely a finding that it was thorough and complete, committee Chairman Bruce Smith said.

“All we said is that the environmental document is technically adequate,” Smith said.

Waste Management officials said after the meeting that they expected environmentalists to challenge the study on some ground.

“We’ve anticipated one challenge and we’re prepared for it,” project Manager James M. Jevens said. “We’re thoroughly convinced it will withstand the test.”

But Baggerly said the committee’s approval will force her group and others to file an appeal on the Valley Fever issue.

“Fungus grows when you water it,” Baggerly said. “And the dust from this landfill would blow all over the county.”

Any appeal of the committee’s decision must be filed in 10 days. The Board of Supervisors would then have 30 days to set a date for a public hearing to determine whether the report should be amended.

NEXT STEP

The Ventura County Planning Commission is expected to vote on the proposed Weldon Canyon landfill north of Ventura by midsummer. The Board of Supervisors would then take the final vote on the project four to six weeks later. Waste Management Inc. hopes to open the landfill by 1993.