Riordan OKs Full-Time Inspector for Sunshine Canyon Landfill

Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan has authorized the city to hire an inspector who will oversee compliance with environmental and safety regulations at the Sunshine Canyon Landfill, officials said Thursday.

“The mayor is committed to providing funds to fill that position to ensure the requirements are met on a daily basis, and to keep the landfill as safe as possible,” said Riordan spokesman Peter Hidalgo.

Riordan will propose about $100,000--which includes salary, benefits and other expenses--for the inspector in the mayor’s annual budget to be announced in April, Hidalgo said. The monitor could be hired as soon as July, he added.

The inspector will monitor how trash is being deposited at the dump, Hidalgo said, and along with an environmental supervisor will conduct an intensive inspection every week.

Riordan’s action comes as county officials are considering removing an on-site inspector for the county portion of the landfill, which operates on 215 acres just outside city limits.

In 1999, the City Council approved the dump’s expansion, despite residents’ protests, into 194 acres in Granada Hills--which is part of the city of L.A.

Riordan will ask the landfill’s joint oversight agency to ensure that the landfill operator, Browning-Ferris Industries, reimburses the city for employing the monitor.

Los Angeles city councilmen Mike Feuer and Hal Bernson, whose north Valley district includes the landfill, introduced a motion Wednesday suggesting that Browning-Ferris pay for the monitor.