GRANADA HILLS : Landfill Foes Plan Protest Downtown

Opponents of the 215-acre expansion of Sunshine Canyon Landfill north of Granada Hills suffered another setback this week when the Los Angeles County Regional Planning Commission allowed the city of Los Angeles to dump trash at the facility.

But a group of activists vowed to raise new legal challenges to the project Wednesday at a protest Downtown outside the Hall of Records.

Protesters say the expansion has decimated an ecologically sensitive oak and conifer woodland. They also contend that new studies show the dump site to be seismically unstable.

“We want people to realize the Valley is not a dumping ground just because we’re on the fringe of Los Angeles,” said Esther Simmons of Granada Hills.

Landfill operator Browning-Ferris Industries obtained permission from the county in 1991 to expand the now-closed facility, which straddles the line dividing county and city territory. Court challenges brought by the anti-landfill group, North Valley Coalition of Concerned Citizens, and the city of Los Angeles delayed the project.

But the city reached a $3.2-million legal settlement with BFI in October that cleared the way for work to begin. Barring further delays, BFI officials said the expanded dump could open by June.

Opponents of the project chose Wednesday to protest because the county Planning Commission dropped a key condition of the landfill’s operating permit.

Landfill attorney Steve Weston explained that “the condition the Planning Commission reviewed is what we call the ‘city-use restriction,’ which prohibited the city from dumping trash in the county portion of the landfill, unless the city permitted new landfill construction on their side.”

The commission’s decision cleared the way for city dumping at the landfill. In return, the city agreed to “expeditiously” review environmental studies of expansion of the dump on the city side, said Deputy City Atty. Keith Pritsker.

Protesters said they felt betrayed by the agreement. They have conducted a battery of tests that they say show the landfill might not endure a major earthquake. BFI officials said the county and other regulatory agencies already have reviewed seismic and geological studies and determined the location is stable.

Coalition attorney Rosemary Woodlock said the group likely will continue to try to stop the expansion, including filing an appeal of a decision this week to allow BFI trucks to use a road that runs through city territory.