Hauling Trash to Desert to Be Studied

On the eve of possible Los Angeles City Council action on expanding Sunshine Canyon Landfill, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday voted to study instead hauling trash to desert dumps.

Supervisor Mike Antonovich wrote the motion, which supports the County Sanitation Districts’ plan to haul trash by rail to either Eagle Mountain in Riverside County or Mesquite Landfill in Imperial County. Antonovich said either would be an alternative to dumping trash at Sunshine Canyon.

Any rail-haul program is still years from starting up--estimates are that it might begin in 2006 at the earliest and 2013 at the latest--so it is unlikely to be a near-term alternative to expanding Sunshine Canyon, county officials said. The alternatives are expected to be much more expensive than driving trash to Sunshine Canyon, city officials say.

“We need to be ready to widen the range of potential relationships,” said Steve Maguin, head of the districts’ solid waste management department.

Antonovich said a regional program of hauling trash by rail would also eliminate the need for the proposed Elsmere Landfill in the Santa Clarita Valley.

The Board of Supervisors also asked Maguin’s department to report in 30 days on its plan to lower rail-haul rates by increasing the rates charged to those who dump in the county’s existing Puente Hills Landfill.

“Any action to approve the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in the San Fernando Valley is also premature until the city of Los Angeles reviews the Board of Supervisors’ report regarding the cost implications of rail haul,” Antonovich said.