Council to Weigh Alternatives to Lopez Canyon Landfill : Refuse: Panel instructs sanitation officials to report on options other than extending dump near Lake View Terrace to 2001.

The Los Angeles City Council sent a strong signal Friday that it is opposed to extending the life of the Lopez Canyon Landfill past its scheduled closing date next February.

Following testimony from dozens of landfill opponents, the council set aside a proposal to spend $400,000 on new studies for a plan to extend the landfill until 2001. Instead it instructed sanitation officials to draft a report within 60 days on alternatives to dumping in the landfill.

Councilman Richard Alarcon, a longtime critic of the dump in his northeast San Fernando Valley district, called the action a “tremendous victory” in his battle to close Lopez Canyon next year.

Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sylmar), another vocal critic, said the decision indicates that “the movement to close Lopez is gaining steam.”

The city collects and dumps about 5,000 tons of refuse per day, most of which ends up in the city-owned Lopez Canyon Landfill near Lake View Terrace. According to sanitation officials, the 400-acre landfill will still have room for more than 3 million tons of trash once the current permit expires in 1996.

Sanitation officials have recommended keeping the dump open until 2001, citing an independent analysis that says the city could save $56 million over the cost of hauling the trash to more expensive dumps.

But during the meeting Friday, Councilwoman Laura Chick suggested that the city could erase part of that $56-million cost by charging a fee to residents who ask for extra trash containers.

In the past few years, the city has given residents about 145,000 extra containers at no charge, in addition to the regular trash and recycling containers that are distributed to citizens participating in the city’s curbside trash pickup program.

City sanitation officials estimate that the city could bring in between $5 million and $16 million in fees annually for the extra containers, depending on the fee schedule.

However, Councilwoman Rita Walters, who represents parts of south Los Angeles, said she is worried that many of the city’s low-income residents need extra containers and won’t be able to pay the new fee. The result may be trash dumped on street corners, she said.

“I’m very concerned,” she said. “My district is already a city dump. People dump on the streets and in the alleys.”

J.P. Ellman, chairwoman of the Public Works Commission, which oversees the city’s sanitation operations, said the council’s decision Friday does not rule out the possibility of extending the life of the landfill.

She said the council can still approve the $400,000 in studies at a later date.

“They didn’t make a final decision on anything,” Ellman said.

Ellman noted that the Public Works Commission has already ordered private trash disposal firms to submit offers to operate alternative disposal programs. Those offers will be detailed in a report to the council, she said.