Residents Sue to Halt Landfill Expansion
A coalition of north San Fernando Valley residents filed a lawsuit against the city Tuesday, seeking to overturn approval of the expansion of Sunshine Canyon Landfill into Granada Hills.
The lawsuit by the North Valley Coalition of Concerned Citizens alleges that the city failed to adequately consider alternatives to the expansion as well as the cumulative negative impacts on the surrounding community.
The lawsuit, which named dump operator Browning-Ferris Industries as an interested party, was filed downtown in Los Angeles Superior Court. It seeks a court order setting aside the City Council’s December vote clearing the way for expansion.
By an 8-7 vote, the council approved a zone change allowing BFI to accept 55 million tons of trash on 194 acres in Granada Hills over the next 26 years.
Kelly Smith, the lawyer who filed the lawsuit, said the environmental report does not comply with state law because it failed to consider aggregate impacts of the combined city and county operations.
BFI spokesman Arnie Berghoff said the suit was expected and will be dismissed, just as four suits against expansion in the county portion of the landfill were dismissed.
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