Residents Decry Proposal to Keep Dump Open to 2001 : Sanitation: Neighbors of the Lopez Canyon Landfill speak out before a city panel in an effort to close the facility as scheduled, next year.

As the local battles over landfills continue, about 100 residents spoke out Monday evening against the proposed extension of the operation of Lopez Canyon Landfill into the next century.

The forum for their comments was a hearing, conducted by the city of Los Angeles’ Board of Public Works, to gauge public reaction to the prospect of keeping the city-owned landfill, opened in 1975, in operation for another five years, until 2001.

Its permit, already extended once by five years, is scheduled to expire in 1996.

Many of the speakers mentioned the last extension, which they said was supposed to be the final one, in their comments.

“Everybody agreed it would be closed in five years,” said Sandy Hubbard, co-president of the Lake View Terrace Improvement Assn. The landfill is situated in Lake View Terrace.

“It is your honor, it’s your integrity at stake,” Hubbard told board members. “I would like you to keep it.”

The city collects and dumps about 5,000 tons of refuse per day, most of which ends up at Lopez Canyon. City sanitation officials have said there is enough space left in the landfill to store another 3 million tons of garbage. They maintain that keeping the facility open would be cheaper than hauling waste by rail to remote desert dumps or sending it to other dumps in the Los Angeles area--alternatives advocated by opponents of the extension.

City Councilman Richard Alarcon, who has spoken out against the extension, told the board that saving money was not the only consideration that should govern their decision. He said the board should keep its promise to close the landfill, even though, “We might have to bite the bullet on a few million dollars a year.”

Opponents also cited the fact that there have been recent environmental violations at the landfill, including three notices issued in December by the Air Quality Management District board. Two of those were for failing to capture leaking gas fumes in a collection system and one was for failing to cover exposed waste.

Some also commented that the legal challenges to an extension, if granted, would be costly to the city. In May, the council voted to hire a Los Angeles-based law firm to examine the legal consequences. Alarcon commented before the meeting that the $100,000 law firm contract would be the “first small ripple in what will become a wave of legal expenses” as a result of dump opposition.

Before Monday’s hearing, J. P. Ellman, president of the Board of Public Works, said she could not forecast what the board’s recommendation to the Planning Commission would be. She described Lopez Canyon as “a well-run facility,” but said that all factors will be weighed before a decision is made.

“We do not rubber-stamp anything,” Ellman said. “What we’ve got to do is look toward a citywide waste disposal policy that balances environmental and financial concerns both.”

At the conclusion of the meeting, board members said they would make their decision on the extension soon, possibly as early as Wednesday.