VERNON : Council Approves Waste Facility

A 200,000-square-foot recycling and waste transfer facility, which will handle non-hazardous material from throughout Southeast Los Angeles County, has been unanimously approved by the City Council.

The facility, to be built on a 10-acre site at 3677 Bandini Blvd., will process as much as 6,000 tons of waste per day, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, said Kevin Wilson, city assistant engineer.

The complex will be owned by SERVCON Vernon Inc., a company created by OLS Energy of San Francisco to develop the property, said project adviser Richard Chase of Consultants Collaborative in San Marcos. Construction costs are estimated from $10 million to $40 million depending on the final project size, recycling methods used and other factors, Chase said. Unlike proposals for similar waste recovery and transfer stations elsewhere, this project has met with almost no opposition.

One of the few complaints came from Los Angeles Unified School District officials who expressed concern about the 1,037 trucks that could pass Vernon Elementary School at 2360 E. Vernon Ave. daily. The city responded by restricting the shipping routes.

“No one stood up in opposition at the public hearing,” Chase said. “That’s got to go down in the Guinness Book of World Records for waste transfer stations.”

Considering the town’s motto, “Exclusively Industrial,” and the fact that many of its 88 residents work for the city, the lack of opposition is not surprising, he said.

Industrial, commercial and household waste will be trucked to the facility and separated for recycling. Non-recyclable materials will be transferred to out-of-town landfills. The facility will help cities throughout Southeast Los Angeles County and parts of the city of Los Angeles abide by a state law that mandates cities to divert 25% of their waste from landfills by 1995 and 50% by 2000.

Since the city will receive $1.60 per ton of waste, the project eventually could mean more than $1.5 million in tax revenue annually. Groundbreaking is expected early next year, Chase said.