City’s Use of 2 Area Dumps OKd

Despite angry protests from local residents, the Los Angeles City Council voted Wednesday to haul the city’s trash to two San Fernando Valley landfills after the city’s main dump, the Lopez Canyon landfill, closes June 30.

On a 10-3 vote, the council agreed to send 63% of the city’s trash to the Bradley Landfill in Sun Valley and the rest to the Sunshine Canyon Landfill near Granada Hills. The city is expected to dump 820,000 tons of trash next year.

The $65.4 million contracts allow the city to dump in Sunshine Canyon for seven years and in Bradley for five years. Both facilities are expected to reach capacity when the contracts expire.

But about 50 protesters, wearing signs proclaiming “DUMP L.A.,” objected to the decision, saying it’s unfair to continue to dump the city’s refuse in the Valley. Lopez Canyon, the last city-owned dump, is in Lake View Terrace.

Most of the protest was over use of the Sunshine Canyon dump, a 215-acres facility that straddles the city and county border north of Granada Hills. The city’s portion of the dump closed in 1991 but the owner of the facility, Browning-Ferris Industries, plans to reopen it on the county side.

Wayde Hunter, president of the North Valley Coalition of Concerned Citizens, a group opposed to the Sunshine Canyon facility, said the proposal may save money over the cost of dumping elsewhere but ignores the problems of noise, odors and trash near the landfill.

“You get the cash and we get the trash,” he said.

He and other Sunshine Canyon neighbors said they are so angry over the decision that they vowed to lead a secession campaign in hopes the Valley could gain better representation as a separate city.

“There is no justice in this hall!” hollered Mary Edwards, past president of the North Valley Coalition. “I say we secede and we start the movement today.”

But some council members noted the Sunshine Canyon Landfill has already received a permit from the county of Los Angeles and will accept refuse regardless of whether the city dumps on the site.

Councilmen Hal Bernson, Richard Alarcon and Nate Holden voted against the contract, saying Valley residents should not have to bear the brunt of the city’s trash problems.

“These people have suffered for a long time,” said Bernson, who led the fight to close the Sunshine Canyon dump on the city side and fought to halt the landfill expansion on the county side.

After the city attempted to block Browning-Ferris’ expansion on the county side, the landfill operator sued, prompting a lengthy legal battle with the city.

Under a settlement reached last year, the city agreed to let the dump reopen. In exchange, Browning-Ferris agreed to dismiss the lawsuit, provide at least $550,000 for “environmental programs” and accept city trash for about $19 per ton--a rate lower or comparable to most county dumps.

Sanitation officials warned the council that if the contracts with the Sunshine Canyon and Bradley landfills are not approved, the city would have to rely on a backup contract to send trash to the Bradley dump on a year-by-year basis for $35 per ton.

Councilman Mike Hernandez was booed by the protesters when he told the council that it would only make sense to contract with Sunshine Canyon and take advantage of the negotiated rate.

After the vote, Nora Schumacker, treasurer of the North Valley Coalition, vowed to never let the city use the Sunshine Canyon dump.

“We will never allow that landfill to open!” she shouted. “They will have to roll over us.”