Council OKs Final Plan for Lopez Dump Closure
The City Council adopted a final closure plan Tuesday for the Lopez Canyon Landfill, including a new cover system that will save the city money.
The council’s Environmental Quality and Waste Management Committee approved the closure plan in November. The committee considered two types of covers, settling on a uniform 5-foot layer of soil to seal off the dump, which stopped accepting garbage in 1996.
Kelly Gharios, a senior engineer at the Bureau of Sanitation, said the planned cover exceeds the state’s minimum requirement. The council committee rejected a cover that would have used layers of soil, clay and vegetation, and cost the city an extra $2 million.
“Because of the arid and semi-arid environment, the use of a monolithic cover is much better to control the percolation of rainwater into the waste,” Gharios said.
The council also approved using 300,000 cubic yards of on-site soil for the cover, rather than importing the dirt. That option will save an estimated $1 million.
The council has set aside about $18 million for the dump’s closure.
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