Landfill Operator Drops Dump From Plan : Simi Valley: Firm decides against trucking Oceanside trash to site near city. Local officials earlier this month had threatened to stall effort.

Bowing to pressure from angry Ventura County leaders, Waste Management pledged Wednesday not to truck trash from Oceanside to its landfill near Simi Valley.

The decision, reached after Ventura County Supervisor Vicky Howard and the Simi Valley City Council voiced strong opposition to the plan, was announced by Waste Management officials at an Oceanside City Council meeting Wednesday.

“We have reviewed all the other options, and this one, after further review, doesn’t make sense,” Waste Management spokesman Greg Loughnane said in an interview. “It was apparent from the start that Simi Valley was the least likely alternative.”

Protests arose earlier this month when Ventura County leaders learned that Waste Management was considering the Simi Valley Landfill as one of four potential dump sites for 300 tons of trash from Oceanside each day.

Howard threatened to stall the plan by calling for a full environmental impact report, arguing that hauling outside trash to Simi Valley would increase air pollution and shorten the life of the landfill for local rubbish.

Oceanside Deputy City Manager Dana Whitney said the city urged Waste Management to drop the Simi Valley dump from the list.

“Obviously we were concerned that there was a potential threat of challenges on our environmental determination,” Whitney said. “We discussed it with Waste Management and were pleased when they made the decision. I think it was a good one.”

*

Howard also praised Waste Management’s decision.

“I’m very, very pleased about what has happened,” Howard said Wednesday. “It shows that all of our lobbying efforts were not in vain.”

Waste Management, which owns and operates the Simi Valley Landfill, announced plans last fall to seek trash from other counties to increase the dump’s income. The Simi Valley dump, just northwest of the city limits, was not taking in enough trash to remain profitable--a problem that continues to plague the dump operators.

In January, a Utah rail hauler outbid Waste Management for the right to handle Oceanside’s trash. Ventura County leaders took that agreement as an assurance that the trash would not end up in the Simi Valley dump.

But the rail carrier ran into technical problems and early this summer Waste Management returned, offering the city a cheaper rate.

Although Ventura County leaders are pleased with Wednesday’s decision, they acknowledge that there are still problems to iron out with Waste Management over the operation of the Simi Valley Landfill.

The dump, which takes in about 1,000 tons of trash a day from Simi Valley and neighboring communities, needs an additional 400 tons each day to turn a profit, Loughnane said. The dump could meet that goal if Thousand Oaks trash now hauled to Los Angeles were rerouted to the Simi Valley Landfill, he said.