Search Begins for Landfill to Replace West Covina Site

As West Covina and BKK Corp. formally agreed Thursday to shut down by mid-September the controversial landfill that takes up to a quarter of the county’s trash, officials and waste haulers began the search for a new dumping ground for as much as 12,000 tons of garbage daily.

Los Angeles County officials say they believe there is enough short-term capacity at dumps in the region to accommodate the trucks soon to be turned away from BKK’s 583-acre dump.

But as the market tightens and trash trucks’ trips to dumps become longer, some officials and trash disposal executives say the costs to some haulers and consumers could increase. Before the end of the decade, they say, a crisis could develop unless another major landfill opens or an existing site gets an extension on its life.

Thursday’s agreement settles a long-standing lawsuit by West Covina alleging that BKK had reneged on a 1985 agreement to close the dump by last November. BKK had contended that it could operate the site until 2006.

Officials and residents in West Covina began planning celebration parties moments after Los Angeles Superior Court Judge William Drake approved the settlement Thursday.

“This is a momentous time for West Covina,” said Mayor Steve Herfert. “This is probably the biggest thing to happen in the city in the last four decades. It is a victory for our residents.”

But county officials were more circumspect.

“It would appear there is sufficient capacity between Sunshine, Puente Hills, Chiquita Canyon, Azusa and the Bradley West landfills,” said Donald Nellor, head of planning for the County Sanitation Districts.

However, Mike Mohajer, assistant division engineer for the county public works department, said that a shortage could ensue with the city of Los Angeles closing Lopez Canyon in July, Santa Clarita closing Chiquita Canyon, the Azusa landfill closing next year and the Spadra landfill in Pomona and the Bradley West landfill expected to close in three years. “Obviously it is going to mean trucks traveling additional miles, and that, with a tighter market, could increase the cost to the consumer,” said Nellor.

Officials at BKK say one of the reasons the West Covina landfill is not closing sooner is the challenge of finding new outlets for the haulers who use it.

“If we had just shut the gates next week there would have been chaos,” said Ron Gastelum, BKK’s chief operating officer. Gastelum said the West Covina site could close by the end of June if Sunshine Canyon opens then as expected.

In the long term, he said he foresees a waste crunch unless Los Angeles County develops some new sites. “The closure of our landfill is going to be a wake-up call to solid waste planners to begin diligently planning for the future,” he said.

Haulers were disturbed to hear that BKK’s landfill would close so soon.

“The consumer is definitely going to see high prices and it is going to be a blow to the small [trash] companies, especially in the San Gabriel Valley,” said Ron Saldana of the California Disposal Assn. “This landfill and Puente Hills were the largest in the Western United States.”

Saldana said that when Browning Ferris Industries’ small Azusa landfill closes it will force many San Gabriel Valley haulers to make the long trip to Sunshine Canyon using special transfer trucks rather than regular garbage trucks.

Still, Arnie Berghoff, a spokesman for Browning Ferris, one of the nation’s largest trash disposal firm, said there is enough competition and enough landfill space to assure that the closure will not jack up prices.

But even Sunshine Canyon’s future could be cloudy.

Residents near the dump vowed Thursday to fight the reopening of Sunshine Canyon because of seismic safety standards.

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End of the Line

BKK Corp. has agreed to close its 583- acre West Covina landfill Sept. 15, ending years of litigation with the city.