Council Opts to Continue Using County Landfill

The city has decided to continue taking out its trash to county landfills to help keep the dump from falling into private hands.

On Monday night, the City Council approved its part of an agreement in which all cities in Orange County promise to direct all their garbage to the county. In exchange for the guaranteed income, the county agrees to reduce its gate fees--the charge for dumping at the landfills--from $27 to $22 a ton.

The fee would remain fixed for 10 years, with the following exceptions: inflation rising above 4% a year; unexpectedly low amounts of garbage being brought to the landfills; or “uncontrollable circumstances” such as changes in law.

However, the agreement also says the county may import garbage from outside Orange County if it can’t make enough money on the local trash.

“The concept of importing trash really bothers me,” Councilman Dave Sullivan said, especially when the state has passed recycling incentives to divert garbage from landfills. “It just seems schizophrenic in view of that.”

Citing that concern, Sullivan was the sole vote out of seven against the agreement.

But Councilwoman Shirley Dettloff said the concession is needed to ensure that the county won’t sell the landfills, at Brea, Irvine and San Juan Capistrano, to a private company. Such a company would then be free to charge dumpers whatever the market would bear.