Landfill Expansion Approval Probed

A state legislative panel has voted to investigate the state Integrated Waste Management Board’s handling of Los Angeles’ expansion of Sunshine Canyon Landfill.

In seeking the audit, Assemblyman Scott Wildman (D-Los Angeles), who chairs the Joint Legislative Audit Committee, said he wanted to determine whether state waste management regulators adequately considered potential environmental hazards and health risks before approving the landfill expansion plans.

The audit, which Wildman characterized as “moderate” in scope, would focus on Sunshine Canyon and two other landfill projects that the committee has yet to identify.

The Bureau of State Audits will conduct the investigation into the regulators’ permitting process, Wildman said. The probe is expected to last four months and cost $100,000.

Granada Hills residents’ fears about water pollution, soil contamination and other environmental hazards resulting from the expansion prompted Wildman to press for the audit.

The City Council voted in December to permit Browning-Ferris Industries to expand the landfill farther into Granada Hills, drawing a lawsuit by residents contending that the city failed to adequately consider the health effects and alternatives.