Continued Operation of Landfill Urged

A county report released this week recommends approval of a proposal to allow the Bailard Landfill to continue operating for another three years or until it reaches 3 million tons of trash.

The Ventura County Planning Department report said the Ventura County Planning Commission should approve the proposal when it hears the issue today, but with a series of strict measures to reduce dust, noise and odor.

Today’s meeting will be held at 8:30 a.m. in the supervisors’ meeting room at the County Government Center.

Without those measures, the landfill should not be considered a “compatible land use” with the nearby Sister Servants of Mary convent, the River Ridge and Cypress Point housing developments or the planned high school, and the proposal to extend its life should be rejected, the report states.

“You want (the landfill) to at least be able to coexist with the neighbors,” said Lynne Kada, county planner in charge of the project.

The report recommends that the Ventura Regional Sanitation District, which operates the landfill, use chemical dust suppressants on all unpaved areas. The district should also be required to investigate the use of cover material other than soil, which is now used.

Also, the district should be required to design and install a filtration system to reduce dust, noise and odor at the convent to an acceptable level.

The district has already agreed to the conditions, Kada said. Regardless of the commission’s decision Thursday, the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hear the issue March 1.