Oaks’ Cutting Urged for Valley Dump Expansion

A report to be released today recommends that 510 coast live oak trees be cut down to make room for an expanded Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills.

The city staff report, to be presented at a special meeting of the Los Angeles Board of Public Works at City Hall, specifies that the trees would be cut at the expansion site and twice as many new trees would be planted elsewhere.

The board could approve, reject, amend or delay action on the staff members’ recommendation to adopt the tree mitigation plan, one of the last hurdles in the process to expand the landfill operated by Allied Waste Industries, formerly Browning-Ferris Industries.

Under the expansion plan, all trees would be removed from the site. The size, health and location of most of the coast live oak trees prevent their relocation, however, those in good condition would be transplanted at nearby parks.

Younger coast live oak trees would be planted in a 100-acre buffer zone between the landfill and a residential area, said David Edwards, project director for Allied Waste Industries.

But the North Valley Coalition, which opposes the dump expansion, contends that removing aged oaks would destroy a significant ecological habitat.

“The mitigation plan is impressive on paper, but the environmental impact of removing mature trees and replacing them with young trees will take centuries to mitigate,” said Wayde Hunter, the coalition’s president.

More than a decade ago, the landfill operator mounted a similar tree mitigation campaign to win approval to expand into unincorporated Los Angeles County above Granada Hills.

That reforestation plan called for the removal of 3,200 trees, Edwards said. Two oak trees were planted for each one removed and five Douglas firs were planted for each one taken out.

The coalition acknowledged that about 3,000 trees were clear cut immediately after the landfill operator received a permit to expand into county land and that some new trees have been planted along the dump’s perimeter, said Mary Edwards, a spokeswoman for the group.

Officials with the Los Angeles County Fire Department’s forestry division, which oversees reforestation projects in the county, could not be reached Thursday to confirm or deny David Edwards’ assertions.

In December, the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board awarded Allied Waste Industries a stringent permit to develop a 450-acre landfill within Los Angeles city limits in the north San Fernando Valley, over the objections of residents and politicians.

The landfill’s operators, as well as its opponents, have filed petitions with the California State Water Resources Control Board challenging the regional water board’s decision.