GRANADA HILLS : Waste Firm Seeks Damages From City

The nation’s second largest waste disposal company is seeking damages in excess of $1.5 billion from the city of Los Angeles over access to a landfill north of Granada Hills.

Browning-Ferris Industries, operator of the now-closed Sunshine Canyon Landfill, filed the claim with the city Monday. A spokesman for the company said the claim was prompted by the city’s decision last month to bar trash trucks from using the only access road to the landfill, situated on land that straddles the border between the city and the county.

“The claim is related to the city’s taking of our property and what we believe to be breach of settlement,” said BFI spokesman Arnie Berghoff. “It’s also due to illegal actions taken by the (city) Board of Zoning Appeals.”

Filing a claim with the city is necessary before a lawsuit can be filed against the city.

An attorney for the city said Tuesday that he is aware of the claim but does not know whether it has been filed at the city clerk’s office.

“I think you can guess what our response will be,” Deputy City Atty. Keith Pritsker said. “I don’t think the city has any pockets laying around with that kind of cash in them.”

BFI has sought to reopen and expand the landfill, which closed in 1991 when the facility’s operating permit expired. The county later approved BFI plans for a $20-million, 215-acre expansion on the county side of the property that would accommodate 17 million tons of trash.

But the project was delayed by homeowners and environmentalists, who joined the city in a series of legal challenges to the expansion.

In October, the city, county and BFI reached a $3.2-million settlement in which the city agreed to drop legal actions and the county agreed to allow city trash to be dumped in the portion of the facility that is located in unincorporated territory.

Also under the settlement, the city agreed to “expeditiously process” a zoning variance application made by BFI to allow trash trucks to use the only access road leading to the facility. The road, which feeds off San Fernando Road, is located on property owned by BFI within the city limits.

Though the zoning administrator approved that variance in January, the decision was appealed by the North Valley Coalition, a homeowners group opposed to the landfill expansion. Last month, a zoning appeals board overturned the zoning administrator’s decision. BFI appealed to the City Council, but the council declined to take action.

“Basically, they ignored the findings of the (zoning) administrator,” Berghoff said. “The city had agreed to process our variance for the road fairly and in good faith.”

Pritsker did not deny those terms. “We did expeditiously process it,” he said. “But we never agreed to approve it. The city legally couldn’t promise that or guarantee it. BFI expected it, but it didn’t pan out for them.”

BFI’s claim is for the amount of future income expected from the landfill, officials said.