OJAI : Landfill Debate Overshadows Event

The debate surrounding the proposed Weldon Canyon landfill upstaged the opening of a garden-waste recycling center in Ojai on Saturday, as more than 200 people showed up for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that became a showcase for landfill opponents.

After surveying the throng--many wearing “Dump Weldon” T-shirts and carrying homemade anti-Weldon landfill signs--Supervisor Maggie Kildee spoke briefly about the recycling center before addressing the proposed dump.

“During the past seven years, we have talked a lot about Weldon Canyon,” said Kildee, whose vote may be key when the issue goes before the Board of Supervisors. “My decision has not been made. I think it’s important to wait until the process is complete.”

The county Planning Commission is scheduled to vote on the proposal May 27, and the supervisors will consider it in early June.

Many Ojai Valley residents believe a landfill at Weldon Canyon will erode air quality and drive down property values.

Because the new garden-waste recycling center is expected to reduce the amount of refuse that ends up in local garbage dumps, anti-Weldon activists lauded it as one alternative to large garbage landfills.

“Composting and recycling are the directions that we need to go in,” said Gregory Nava, one of the leaders of the Coalition to Stop Weldon Dump. “If we keep building landfills, we’ll never come up with innovative ideas about solid waste disposal.”

California cities are required to reduce the amount of their waste dumped at landfills by 25% by 1995 and by 50% by 2000 or face fines of up to $10,000 a day, said Peter Kaiser, a spokesman for the county Solid Waste Management Department.

The Ojai Valley Greenwaste Recycling Center, operated by California Wood Recycling of Ventura, is on county property on Old Baldwin Road in Ojai. It accepts landscape, yard and tree wastes and untreated wood but not yucca and palm trees.