State Fines BKK $304,500 for Landfill Violations : Environment: Santa Claritans plan to use the West Covina problems to fight an Elsmere Canyon dump.

BKK Corp., which hopes to open a regional garbage dump in a mountain canyon near Santa Clarita, will pay $304,500 in fines for various violations involving the closure of its hazardous-waste landfill in West Covina, officials announced Friday.

The head of a group opposing BKK’s joint plan with Los Angeles County and the city of Los Angeles to establish a dump in Elsmere Canyon near Santa Clarita said the violations underscore her group’s contention that the proposed landfill should not be opened.

Under an agreement with the state Environmental Protection Agency, BKK will be allowed to use $70,000 of the fine to hire an environmental audit firm to advise it of any deficiencies in its maintenance of the landfill, which has been closed, an EPA spokesman said.

“I hope that this penalty will impress on BKK the need to be more diligent in maintenance activities at their West Covina landfill,” state EPA Secretary James M. Strock said in announcing the fine.

BKK was ordered to close its 170-acre hazardous-waste landfill at 2210 S. Azusa Ave. in 1984 after it was found to be contaminating nearby ground water. Closure was completed in 1989 under guidelines established by state and federal environmental agencies.

The corporation still operates a second landfill at the site that accepts trash from several cities.

The $304,500 fine was imposed after a team of inspectors from the state Department of Toxic Substances Control found 23 violations of state hazardous-waste laws and regulations at the landfill in October, 1990, state EPA spokesman Rich Varenchik said.

Violations included improper maintenance of a clay covering over the landfill, releases of hazardous waste from spills and equipment leaks into the atmosphere, open containers of hazardous waste, inadequate security and failure to maintain adequate inspection logs.

Inspectors also cited BKK for failure to furnish records pertaining to asbestos at a portion of the landfill that still accepts trash from several cities, Varenchik said.

The most serious of the 23 violations had to do with the clay covering, which must be maintained against cracks and holes to prevent rainwater from leaking into the waste below and gases from escaping into the atmosphere, EPA officials said.

Ron Gastelum, an attorney for BKK, acknowledged that some of the clay covering was dried and cracking because of an irrigation system that “was not functioning as well as we would have liked.”

He said the company has corrected all of the violations and is attempting to operate within state environmental guidelines for closure of hazardous-waste dumps.

“Our closure plan was the first one in the United States approved by the EPA,” Gastelum said. “In many respects, we’re all still learning.”

Santa Clarita residents promise to cite BKK’s record in West Covina as they oppose plans for the dump in Elsmere Canyon.

“Landfills do not belong in urban areas,” said Marsha McLean, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Canyon Preservation Committee. “Why put people in danger?”

The Elsmere Canyon landfill has been approved in concept by both the Los Angeles City Council and Board of Supervisors over the objections of the Santa Clarita City Council and area residents.

Plans call for the landfill to open in 1995 when the city-owned Lopez Canyon Landfill near Lake View Terrace will be closed. An environmental impact report is scheduled to be completed by early next year, after which public hearings will be held before the Board of Supervisors can give the project final approval.