BKK Landfill to Close, W. Covina Officials Say

West Covina officials say they have hammered out an agreement with BKK Corp. to permanently shut down one of the nation’s largest landfills, ending years of legal wrangling and further tightening the region’s scarce landfill space.

“We expect to file final papers with the court [Thursday] morning that will confirm the final closure date of the landfill,” said West Covina City Manager Jim Starbird.

“This settlement is a victory for everyone in West Covina,” said Councilman Michael Touhey, a longtime opponent of the dump.

“It’s great,” concurred Councilwoman Nancy Manners, who said the agreement calls on BKK to close the landfill by Sept. 15. “It’s later than the city planned but it’s not that bad.”

BKK officials did not return calls Wednesday.

The agreement would settle West Covina’s long-standing, multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the landfill operator, and city officials said they expect the settlement to be approved by a Los Angeles Superior Court judge today.

The city’s suit alleged that BKK reneged on a 1985 agreement to close the landfill’s gates by last November. BKK, however, has contended that the memorandum was not a legally binding agreement and that it had the right to operate the landfill until 2006.

The city and BKK were slated to go to trial Tuesday, but litigators, engineers and officials on both sides sat down to negotiate a last-minute settlement agreement at the courthouse during the last two days.

The City Council worked on the agreement in closed session Tuesday night and met with BKK officials again Wednesday, clearing the way for today’s settlement, city officials said.

“There is finally light at the end of the tunnel,” said West Covina Councilman Benjamin Wong.

But neighbors of the West Covina landfill are not cheering yet.

“I’ll believe it when I see the trucks stop driving up Azusa Avenue to the landfill,” said Jean Arneson, who has fought BKK for years.