PUENTE HILLS : Landfill Critics File Suit to Stop Expansion

Opponents of the proposed expansion of the Puente Hills Landfill filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday, contending that an environmental study failed to address potential water, air, noise and odor pollution surrounding the dump.

“It was completely inadequate,” said Robert Manuele, one of the petitioners in the lawsuit and the president of the Hacienda Heights Improvement Assn. The homeowners group, four Hacienda Heights residents and the Hacienda Heights La Puente Unified School District filed the lawsuit.

Officials of the Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County, operators of the landfill, said they had no comment on the suit and intend to continue pursuing the permits needed to expand the dump’s capacity.

The environmental study, approved last month by the landfill’s Board of Directors, said that a potentially burgeoning population and an expected shortage of dumping space necessitate expansion of the facility--one of the biggest of its kind in the United States.