Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : City Blasts Plan to Remove Oaks for Proposed Dump

City officials are adding oak trees to their argumentative fire against a landfill proposed in Elsmere Canyon.

The Torrance-based BKK Corp. has requested a permit from Los Angeles County to remove up to 3,056 oak trees from the canyon, located southeast of Santa Clarita off the Antelope Valley Freeway.

Officials in this 6-year-old city, whose first adopted ordinance was to protect oaks, have added it to their long list of complaints against the suggested dump.

“This is a huge number of oak trees to remove from the national forest,” said Deputy City Manager Jeff Kolin. “This acreage is larger than the Valencia Town Center.”

Removing oak trees to make way for the proposed solid waste facility is not a new proposal, and Santa Clarita’s complaints are simply part of the city’s media campaign against the dump, according to Ron Gastelum, BKK chief administrative officer.

“This is an example of the city trying to make news that isn’t news,” said Gastelum, noting that each oak removed from Elsmere Canyon is to be replaced with two. “This has been talked about for a long time.”

Santa Clarita officials learned of the permit request in January but haven’t voiced their complaints because of earthquake recovery efforts, said city Public Information Officer Gail Foy.

Santa Clarita officials vehemently oppose the proposed dump, saying it will lower property values, threaten the underground water supply, harm air quality and bring a steady flow of trash trucks into the area.