County OKs Plan for L.A. City Trash to Be Dumped at Sunshine Canyon

Removing one of the final obstacles to opening Sunshine Canyon landfill above Granada Hills, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a plan Thursday that will allow the city of Los Angeles to dump trash there once the landfill opens this summer.

The 4-1 decision, with Supervisor Mike Antonovich dissenting, is the result of a legal settlement between the city and the dump’s operator, Browning Ferris Industries, in December after more than a decade of squabbling among various factions.

One result of the squabbling was that in 1991, the county banned the firm from accepting the city’s trash at Sunshine Canyon once the dump opened. The city responded by forbidding garbage trucks to travel on the access road to the landfill, which passes through the city’s jurisdiction.

Thursday’s board vote, however--combined with last month’s legal agreement between the city and Browning Ferris--all but clears the way for the opening of the county portion of the dump as early as July 1, barring rainstorms or a lawsuit, a company spokesman said.

The 215-acre dump straddles city limits about half a mile southwest of the junction of the Golden State and Antelope Valley freeways.

Browning Ferris and the city released a summary of their agreement that stated that: The firm will dismiss its $400-million lawsuit against the city; the company may use the access road to the dump; no out-of-county trash will be accepted at the landfill for 7 1/2 years, and the firm will accept city waste at competitive prices.