Judge Backs Sanitation District in Suit Over Landfill Expansion

The local sanitation district successfully defended itself in a lawsuit filed by a citizens’ group that had sought to stop a landfill expansion, a judge has ruled.

The cities of Fillmore and Oxnard, joined by the Santa Clara School District, residents and farmers, sued the Ventura Regional Sanitation District in 1996 after it announced plans to expand the Toland Road Landfill, located between Santa Paula and Fillmore.

The municipalities settled out of court a year ago but the other petitioners continued the suit, arguing the expansion would increase traffic, noise and dust and cause environmental problems.

“Solid waste deposit sites are, immutably, warts on our county’s physiognomy. This one was well described, projected, and circulated,” Ventura County Superior Court Judge Joe D. Hadden wrote in his ruling, which was made public Tuesday.

The Toland site was expanded after closure of a major Oxnard landfill. Toland once handled about 135 tons of trash a day from Santa Paula, Fillmore and Piru but now serves the entire west county, which generates 1,500 tons daily.

Hadden based his ruling on a study of the landfill before and after the expansion.

“This is a long time in coming,” said Bill Smith, the sanitation district’s general manager. “The suit was filed over two years ago and has cost the public hundreds of thousands of dollars, which could have been much better spent.”