OJAI VALLEY : Weldon Dump Foes Mount New Effort

A group of Ojai Valley residents has launched a last-ditch effort to keep a trash dump out of the Ojai Valley.

The 3-week-old Coalition to Stop Weldon Canyon Dump has called an “emergency town meeting” for tonight at Ojai’s Nordhoff High School.

At the meeting, coalition members will solicit concerns from residents and urge them to join a letter-writing campaign aimed at members of the county Board of Supervisors, said the group’s spokesman, television producer Michael Shapiro.

In June, the board is expected to vote on whether to place a landfill at Weldon Canyon. The proposed landfill--just east of the Canada Larga exit off the Ojai Freeway between Ojai and Ventura--has been the focus of controversy since it was proposed as a dump site in 1985.

Opponents of a Weldon landfill, including those in the coalition, say a dump will cause pollution and reduce property values.

The coalition, which includes actors Bill Paxton and Mary Steenburgen, has paid for a frequently aired radio advertisement on the issue.

The group has raised about $10,000, Shapiro said.

But Supervisor John K. Flynn, a Weldon proponent, said he did not think the group’s effort would affect the board’s decision.

“I don’t think it’s going to matter,” Flynn said. “Over the seven years that this has been floating around, I would think that everyone (on the board) had made up their mind already.” Nevertheless, organizers remain determined.

“We see it as a David-versus-Goliath battle,” Shapiro said. “But by pooling the resources and talents of the disparate groups involved in this issue, we might be able to hold our own.”