Tentative Ruling Backs Landfill Expansion

Rebuffing opponents of a proposed Chiquita Canyon Landfill expansion, a Los Angeles County Superior Court judge issued a 17-page tentative ruling Tuesday indicating he believes county officials adequately studied the environmental impacts involved.

Judge Paul Boland said he expects to issue a final ruling within a few days in the case pitting environmentalists and neighbors of the Val Verde area dump against the landfill operators and the county government.

If unchanged, the ruling would enable the landfill to more than double its capacity through 2019, adding space for 23 million more tons of trash as well as adding recycling facilities.

Though the boundaries of the landfill would not be expanded, another 103 acres of the property’s total 592 acres could be used for dumping. Last May, the county Board of Supervisors approved the zoning permit needed for the expansion of the dump near the unincorporated 2,000-resident community of Val Verde.

Val Verde residents split on the issue, with some supporting the expansion in exchange for annual payments from the landfill operator to a community committee. The first payments would be $250,000, increasing to $280,000 by 2019. Others joined Clean Water Action, a Washington, D.C.-based advocacy group, in the civil case, citing health and environmental concerns.

“This is only a tentative ruling,” said Patricia Schifferle, a consultant for Clean Water Action. “The judge could still change his mind.”

Debate over the landfill expansion dates to 1989, when Laidlaw Waste Systems Inc. applied for a permit. The landfill has changed hands twice since then, and now belongs to USA Waste Inc. and is operated locally by a subsidiary, Chiquita Canyon Landfill Inc.

Jim Arnone, an attorney for the dump firm, said those who favor the expansion have reason to celebrate.

“We’re all smiling over here today,” he said. “If the final ruling is like the tentative, we consider this a sweeping victory for our side.”

Ruth Griffin, president of the Val Verde Civic Assn., which initially opposed the expansion but later endorsed a slightly scaled-back plan, saluted Boland’s ruling.

“Today is validation that our decision was correct,” Griffin said. “My mind is at ease and everybody I’ve talked to is satisfied.”