Suit Seeks to Strike Ballot Argument Favoring Landfill

An Ojai Valley rancher is suing backers of a Weldon Canyon landfill in an attempt to force them to strike part of a pro-dump argument from a sample ballot to be distributed for the March election.

Carl Huntsinger alleges in his lawsuit that the argument in favor of Measure T erroneously implies that the dump would be subject to local rate controls and would not accept out-of-county trash.

“What they are saying is false and misleading,” said Lindsay Nielson, an attorney for Huntsinger. “They should say what the measure does instead of giving some fantasy argument to the public.”

Nielson said Huntsinger wants the entire argument stricken from the sample ballot before it is sent to 350,000 voters, beginning next week. The deadline for printing the sample ballots is Saturday.

A hearing is scheduled this morning in Superior Court in Simi Valley.

The authors of the argument are Eloise Brown, Moorpark Councilman Bernardo Perez and taxpayer advocate Jere Robings. All favor building a new west county dump at Weldon Canyon north of Ventura to replace Bailard Landfill in Oxnard after it closes this summer.

“We wrote what we believed to be the truth,” Brown said. “We have a right to express our opinion. I feel the ballot statement should stand as it is.”

The ballot argument states that Weldon’s operators “are pledged not to import out-of-county trash.” It also states that “under Measure T, all operations will be regulated by local officials--including rates.”

But county attorneys have said that the Weldon dump would not be subject to local rate controls nor would imported trash be banned under provisions of Measure T. The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that local jurisdictions cannot legally keep landfill operators from importing trash from other counties or states.

Representatives of Taconic Resources, the San Diego firm pushing the dump initiative, have pledged to sign an agreement binding them to the stipulations.

However, County Chief Administrative Officer Lin Koester reported to the Board of Supervisors that such an agreement might not stand up in court if the dump site is sold.

“No assurances can be made that [such an agreement] will be legally effective against future owners and operators,” Koester reported.

Brown said the county’s opinion is not conclusive.

“That was their opinion,” she said.

Meanwhile, two other options have been proposed for disposing of west county trash once Bailard is closed.

Operators of the Simi Valley Landfill--the same company that holds the Weldon Canyon lease--said they are willing to slash trash rates if they can get a guaranteed amount of waste from the west county.

East county officials have long opposed shipping more west county trash to Simi Valley because it would bring more trash trucks and pollution to local streets.

But recently, Simi Valley officials said they are are willing to consider accepting more rubbish, partly because of possible rate reductions for residents.

The Moorpark City Council gave its tentative support to the proposal this week for the same reason. But Mayor Paul Lawrason said he wants guarantees that trash trucks will remain on the Moorpark Freeway and not drive on city streets.

The Thousand Oaks City Council has yet to take a position.

Another trash option--expansion of the Toland Road Landfill near Santa Paula--has been proposed by the Ventura Regional Sanitation District.

A final environmental impact report released Thursday on the Toland expansion found the proposal would significantly increase air pollution, traffic and noise in the surrounding area. However, the report concluded that the expansion would do less environmental damage than other options, including the alternative of shipping more trash to Simi Valley.

Correspondent Scott Hadly contributed to this story.