Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Dump Opponents Win Backing of Democratic Committee

Opponents of a proposed 190-million-ton landfill in have secured partisan support for their anti-dump efforts.

The Los Angeles Democratic Central Committee Tuesday night voted to oppose construction of a dump in the canyon southeast of Santa Clarita. The resolution cited danger to the local underground water supply and the dump proposal’s swap of land now owned by the U. S. Forest Service.

Ron Gillis, the Democratic regional director representing the Santa Clarita, Antelope and San Fernando valleys, said the resolution was approved unanimously by about 75 attending committee members.

“The members of the Los Angeles Democratic Central Committee represent over a million Democrats, but what might be even more important to our effort is that those Democrats live in the city and county that originally proposed building the dump,” said Gillis, a Santa Clarita resident. “The label NIMBY--not in my back yard--obviously does not apply to the efforts to stop this dump.”

Gillis said he will present the issue for consideration by the California Democratic Party at its state committee meeting Saturday in San Jose.

The dump proposal initially received support from some in Los Angeles who say more landfill space must be found for county garbage.

Santa Clarita has gone on record opposing the dump. Opponents say the landfill will harm local air quality, threaten the underground water supply and lower property values in the Santa Clarita Valley.