Operators Seeking to Extend Life of Landfill

The Bradley Landfill, which towers over working-class Sun Valley, is slated to close in the next 18 months. But today, some residents are holding their noses over the operator’s proposal to extend the life of the dump and eventually transform it into a recycling center.

The landfill, which has been owned since 1986 by Waste Management Corp., receives much of the city of Los Angeles’ commercial garbage. Under its current city permit, the dump is supposed to shut down either by April 2007, or when its mounds of trash reach 1,010 feet above sea level.

The dump’s highest point is 990 feet, and with new trash arriving daily, it probably will be forced to close in 2003 or early 2004, said Doug Corcoran, Waste Management’s director of operations for the north Los Angeles area.

To buy more time, the company has filed a request with the city’s Planning Department to raise its limit by 43 feet. Corcoran said that should keep the 200 or so landfill employees working until Waste Management can turn the site into a sorting and distribution point for recyclable materials.

Ellen Mackey, a member of the mayor’s Oversight Committee on Landfills and a 10-year resident of the heavily Latino neighborhood, said Monday that the landfill should be closed as soon as possible.

“This is a neighborhood filled with kids being impacted by this landfill. At my daughter’s school, we call the [Air Quality Management District] routinely to say we can smell the dump,” Mackey said. ‘“Sun Valley’s been dumped on enough.”

The 10-member oversight committee will consider Waste Management’s proposal for Bradley at 7 p.m. today at Faith Bible Church in Sun Valley.

The group, however, can act only in an advisory capacity. After an environmental review, the decision will rest with the Planning Commission. The Los Angeles City Council will have the final say if a decision is appealed.