More Costs OKd for Closure of Landfill

Orange County supervisors Tuesday approved more than $700,000 in additional construction and environmental-related costs for the closure of the Coyote Canyon landfill, a massive project that has cost the county and other agencies more than $11.6 million cost overruns in the past five years.

Some of the more costly additional expenses have been for repairs to drainage systems damaged in last winter’s rainstorms and for habitat preservation for the California gnatcatcher.

The 300-acre South County landfill is located in unincorporated area near Newport Coast Drive and Bonita Canyon Drive. Work on closing the landfill started in 1989 and is expected to be complete by late this month or early June. The landfill has not accepted refuse since 1990.

Since 1989, officials have approved 95 cost changes for construction, engineering or environmental-related work required for closure.

About $5 million in additional costs have been approved for the relocation of gnatcatcher habitat planned for 100 acres of the closed landfill. The habitat plan was approved well before a federal court ruling on Monday removed the gnatcatcher from the Interior Department’s list of threatened species.

Charles S. Niederman, engineering manager for the county’s Integrated Waste Management Department, said Tuesday that it wasn’t immediately clear how the court decision would affect the landfill closure.

“Who knows, it might get back on the list,” Niederman said.

He said the costs for converting landfill acreage to a sanctuary for the tiny song bird were to be reimbursed to the county by the Transportation Corridor Agencies, a local transportation board. Up to 30 pairs of the birds are expected to be displaced by the construction of the San Joaquin Hills tollway.

The total cost of closing the landfill will be about $32 million, officials said.