Firm Says Landfill Is Likely to Reopen

Browning-Ferris Industries Inc., owner of the controversial Sunshine Canyon Landfill north of Granada Hills, said a state appellate court decision last week increases the likelihood that the landfill will reopen.

Sunshine Canyon has been closed since September, 1991, when its operating permit expired. Browning-Ferris wants to expand the landfill, but its plans have been held up by a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by the city of Los Angeles and the North Valley Coalition, a community group. The landfill is on land that is partly in the city and partly in the county of Los Angeles. The county, which originally approved the expansion, is a defendant in the lawsuit.

Browning-Ferris, based in Houston and one of the nation’s largest waste-service companies, said the appellate court found that the company had fixed the remaining deficiencies in its environmental impact report. The lower court is due to decide later this month on Browning-Ferris’ motion to lift an order against the company and allow it to begin the expansion.