Landfill Contract Narrowly Rejected

The Los Angeles City Council rejected a proposal Friday to extend a contract to dump trash at Sunshine Canyon Landfill, raising the prospect that residents could face millions of dollars in additional costs to dispose of refuse.

The council voted 7 to 4 for the proposed five-year contract extension with dump operator Browning-Ferris Industries, falling one vote short of the eight needed to pass. The city’s leaders have been wrestling with what to do about the San Fernando Valley landfill for weeks and are scheduled to vote on the emotional issue a second time Tuesday.

Councilwoman Janice Hahn, who opposed the contract Friday, said she is open to being persuaded that the contract is justified, and two council members who missed Friday’s meeting are expected to be present at the second vote.

The decision was the first City Council defeat for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, who argued in a letter to council members that the city had no alternative and would still have to send trash to Sunshine, which could cost $17 million more a year without a contract.

After the vote, Villaraigosa urged the council to reconsider when it votes again next week.

“Extending the contract at Sunshine Canyon is a tough choice, but it is the right choice for now while we work to find viable alternatives,” he said in a statement.

To keep the contract alive, BFI District Manager Greg Loughnane said, he extended the deadline for city approval, which was set to expire Friday, until Aug. 19.

Still, Councilman Greig Smith, the leading opponent of the contract, said he expects the decision to stand.

“For far too long, the residents of Granada Hills have endured the unfair burden of being the dumping grounds for the entire city,” said Smith, whose district includes a portion of the landfill in Granada Hills.

Smith predicted that the decision would force the city to expand recycling, build waste-to-energy plants and find locations for dumping trash that are away from residential neighborhoods.

Along with Smith and Hahn, Alex Padilla and Jan Perry voted against extending the contract, which expires next July.

But others, including Councilman Jack Weiss, said the city has no inexpensive alternative to Sunshine Canyon for dumping the 3,600 tons of trash generated by Los Angeles each day.

“It was breathtakingly irresponsible,” Weiss said of the vote against the contract.

With other landfills nearing capacity or facing government limits, Loughnane said Los Angeles has no choice.

“The city will end up coming back to Sunshine Canyon,” he said.

Councilman Ed Reyes said Friday’s vote would not accomplish what some dump opponents hope: the closure of the landfill in Granada Hills.

“If we don’t vote for this contract, other cities will use that dump and you are going to have to raise fees,” he said.

Some city officials said the city could end up paying $41 per ton to dispose of its trash instead of the $24 under the contract.

Smith disputed the dire warnings, arguing one private hauler was able to dump trash for $16 per ton.

Two dozen neighbors of the landfill were in the council chambers to oppose the extension, and several said afterward they were heartened that the council finally took a stand in their favor.

“We are pleasantly, pleasantly surprised,” said Wayde Hunter, president of the North Valley Coalition. “The city has a history of dumping on our neighborhood, and we weren’t sure they could wean themselves from that.”

The vote took place in a highly politicized atmosphere. Padilla, the council president, is running for the state Senate in the north San Fernando Valley area near the dump. Hahn’s brother, James K. Hahn, just lost a bitter campaign for mayor against Villaraigosa.

Padilla, who grew up living near the now-closed Lopez Canyon Landfill, noted he had voted several years ago to oppose expansion of Sunshine Canyon into Granada Hills.

“I know what it’s like to live with a landfill in your backyard, with the smell, with the health impacts, with the trucks barreling up and down your street,” Padilla said.

On Tuesday, Padilla and Councilman Dennis Zine, who supported the extension, were scheduled to be absent, although Padilla said he would change his plans to attend the meeting.

Councilman Eric Garcetti, who is undecided, and Councilwoman Wendy Greuel, who has voiced opposition, will return.

Supporters of the contract were heavily lobbying Hahn to switch her vote, she said. Hahn told reporters she would weigh any concessions BFI might offer, such as a shorter contract term.

The councilwoman also said she was affected by testimony from sanitation bureau chief Rita Robinson, who said that if the extension was rejected she would find alternative ways to dispose of the trash.

“Sometimes it takes a crisis to put us in solution mode,” Hahn said.

Smith has proposed a mixture of recycling and waste-to-energy plants he said will take care of 90% of the city’s waste.

But Robinson said the city would have to continue to use landfills for the next few years at least while alternatives are explored, although those landfills could be out of the county.

Currently, 62% of the city’s trash is recycled, but the city is just starting to offer recycling to commercial and apartment owners.

Robinson predicted that waste could be cut by 10% to 15% in a year. In addition, the city plans to build four to six waste-to-energy plants that would burn trash to produce power, but the first of those is not expected to be ready until 2009 or 2010. To get the work started, the council approved a motion Friday to make it easier to locate trash-to-energy plants in the city, and to set up a committee to oversee the shift from landfills.

Councilman Bernard C. Parks said he was skeptical that recycling is the answer.

“We cannot create, over the next five years or three years, a self-recycling program that’s going to absorb 4,000 tons of trash,” he said. He also said the defeat of the contract could result in new trash fees for residents.

Villaraigosa, who had opposed the landfill as a council member, warned: “The city will face many tough choices in the coming months in finding reliable and financially responsible options for disposing of our waste.”

The vote took place after more than an hour of emotional debate, during which Smith called BFI morally corrupt and cited numerous cases nationwide where the firm was fined for violating permits and environmental laws.

Hunter made an appeal that seemed to move council members the most.

“Show us that you really mean what you say: That we are not second-class citizens out there, and you are going to stop dumping on your neighbors,” he said.

But Robinson drew an uneasy laugh when asked what she would do 11 months from now if alternatives were not working.

“I have no storage for the trash,” she said. “I always joke that there are two days of storage at Dodger Stadium and three days at the Coliseum, and that’s when the Dodgers are out of town.”