LAKE VIEW TERRACE : Plan to Tap Methane From Landfill OKd

The city Board of Public Works on Monday endorsed a plan that would allow a private partnership to tap methane gas at Lopez Canyon Landfill.

The gas is percolating out from tons of trash buried in the dump, which is slated to close in 1996. The proposed lease agreement would allow Lopez Canyon Energy Partners to construct and operate a gas-to-energy plant at the dump for 15 years, after which ownership would revert to the city.

Under the terms of the plan, the city would be entitled to royalties amounting to 21% of the partnership’s gross sales from the plant, said Drew Sones, manager of the Bureau of Sanitation’s Recycling and Waste Reduction Division. Unless the City Council specifies otherwise, the money would go into the city’s General Fund, he said.

To compensate homeowners for hosting the landfill, the city has been providing Lake View Terrace with a $1-million annual budget for community improvements, a windfall that will disappear when the facility closes in 1996.

To make up for the loss of that income, some residents who have to put up with the dump’s odors say they will push for a share of the income from the gas-to-energy plant proposal.