Bailard Dump to Close Next Month

Bailard Landfill in Oxnard is scheduled to receive its last truckload of trash Aug. 24, bringing an end to its 35 years as a west county dump, officials said Tuesday.

Bailard will be replaced by an expanded Toland Road Landfill near Santa Paula. Toland is set to begin receiving up to 1,500 tons of trash per day--10 times more than it does now--on Aug. 26, officials said.

The Ventura Regional Sanitation District, which operates both landfills, last week approved the expenditure of $7.2 million to close Bailard, said John Conway, the agency’s solid waste director. Most of the money will be used to place a 4-foot-thick soil and clay cap on the 160-acre site, he said.

The district also approved spending $5 million to prepare Toland for its expanded capacity. This will pay for placing a clay cap over the existing landfill as well as road and drainage improvements.

The cities of Santa Paula and Fillmore have sued the county and the sanitation district in an attempt to halt the Toland expansion. Although the cities are expected to seek a restraining order to prevent Toland from accepting more trash until the lawsuit is heard, Conway said the district believes the cities would not be successful.