GRANADA HILLS : Judge Backs Plan to Expand Dump

Although a Superior Court judge has said he will rule in favor of an expansion plan for the Sunshine Canyon Landfill, expansion opponents promised to continue the legal battle to halt the project near Granada Hills.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Robert O’Brien said last week that he intends to rule against halting the expansion. But he said he will hold off on the ruling long enough for expansion opponents to appeal.

The 200-acre landfill, which straddles the city-county boundary in the Santa Susana Mountains above Granada Hills, has been a battleground involving the landfill operators, Browning-Ferris Industries Inc., and neighbors and Los Angeles city officials who oppose the dump’s expansion.

The side of the dump on city property has been closed since 1991, but Browning-Ferris plans to expand the landfill on the county side. A coalition of landfill neighbors and the city of Los Angeles have sued and filed other legal actions to halt the expansion plan.

One of those actions filed by expansion opponents asks O’Brien to halt the expansion until Browning-Ferris has proven, among other things, that the landfill is seismically safe in the wake of the Jan. 17 quake. But O’Brien indicated that he will rule against the action because he believes that opponents must file a separate lawsuit to question the landfill’s seismic safety.

Rosemary Woodlock, an attorney representing landfill neighbors, said Monday that she plans to appeal the decision and continue fighting the landfill expansion.