Trash Talk

Waste Management Drops Plan to Dump in Antelope Valley

My mood is cautiously elated after reading the news in yesterday's paper.

After months of lobbying Los Angeles City Hall to send the City’s trash to its landfills in Palmdale, Lancaster and Corona, Waste Management has pulled the plug!

After four years of promises to get out of Sunshine Canyon Landfill, Los Angeles officials found themselves without an alternative Monday when the only other company vying for the half-billion-dollar trash contract pulled out of the competition.

Waste Management had proposed diverting L.A.'s garbage from the Granada Hills dump to landfills in the Antelope Valley and Riverside County at an estimated $22 million more per year.

In making its surprise announcement Monday, Waste Management accused city officials of foot-dragging in talks that were no closer to completion than they were two years ago.

It’s still worth watching to find out what the Board of Public Works will do today, but if this is true, the citizens of the Antelope Valley can shout out for joy! We’ve defeated Jim Hahn’s plans to dump on us!!!

A NOVEL IDEA: PAY AS YOU DISPOSE

The Los Angeles City Council is considering a measure that would require single family residents to pay for the trash they send to local dumps:

City Hall's top bureaucrat called Friday for the first garbage-collection fee in Los Angeles' history -- a $27 monthly fee to be phased in over 10 years.

The proposal put Mayor James Hahn on the defensive and his top staffers immediately denied that he would back such a hike without first consulting with neighborhood councils. They noted that Hahn's
$5.9 billion proposed budget contains no fee hikes but acknowledged he might consider one in the future, particularly if household trash is shipped outside the city rather than using Sunshine Canyon Landfill in
Granada Hills.

City Administrative Officer Bill Fujioka offered the stunning proposal to the City Council after an ad hoc budget and finance committee asked for the price tag if residents are required to pay the full cost of
trash collection. Currently, there is an $11.60 monthly fee for city-supplied trash bins.

"We think it's time to recognize the costs of this -- $209 million a year -- and that it is a subsidy that comes directly from the general fund," Fujioka said in an interview, noting that the proposal is in
keeping with new fiscal policies adopted recently by the council with the knowledge of the Mayor's Office.

Free trash pickup to the city's 800,000 households in homes and small apartments has been an untouchable policy for decades, but it has been called into question because city officials have not dealt with a structural deficit, estimated to be as much as $300 million.

It might give city councilmembers pause before they consider spending an extra $22 million per year (about $28 per home) to truck their trash out to landfills in the Antelope Valley if it means their
constituents will be footing the bill!

Story via Mayor Sam

LA vs. Palmdale: Battle over Trash

I know this is a little late, but the Antelope Valley Press has a good primer on Palmdale's efforts to block Los Angeles from making the Antelope Valley its personal dump:

In an April 18 letter to L.A. sanitation officials, Toone said an environmental analysis will be required if the L.A. Council is considering approving a contract to have Waste Management Inc. haul trash to the company's landfill in Palmdale.

L.A.'s contract for having trash hauled to the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Granada Hills expires June 30.

Toone said that, because of preliminary steps by L.A. to shift its trash from Granada Hills to the Antelope Valley and Riverside County, Palmdale City Hall "is concerned for the citizens of Palmdale and the Antelope Valley community and the potential negative impacts of the … proposal."

Because of that concern, Palmdale "will respond aggressively with the necessary actions and level of resources to protect the Antelope Valley community from the negative impacts of the proposal in order to ensure the long-term health and quality-of-life … in our community," Toone said.

The city of L.A.'s Web site showed no action items on its agendas for today or Wednesday's City Council meetings for either extending its contract to deliver trash to the Sunshine Canyon landfill, operated by Browning Ferris Industries, or for initiating an environmental analysis to shift its trash to Palmdale.

L.A. Mayor James Hahn has promised to terminate the city's contract with Browning Ferris and send all of its trash - approximately 4,700 tons a day - to jurisdictions outside its borders by 2006.

A call to Hahn's office requesting comment on Toone's position was redirected to the office of L.A. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo.

A spokesman at Delgadillo's office said a response would be forthcoming, but it didn't materialize before the Valley Press' Monday deadline.

County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, whose 5th District includes the Antelope Valley, has taken a stand against Hahn's trash-trucking plan.

During a visit to Lancaster on Monday, Antonovich said he was "encouraged by (Palmdale's) action and I am hopeful that this will help our efforts" to keep more trash trucks from using the Antelope Valley Freeway.

My meeting with the Sierra Club

Last week, I went to a meeting with the Sierra Club out here in the Antelope Valley to talk to their members about Mayor Hahn's plan to ship the City's garbage out of the landfills in the Antelope Valley. I want to thank Dean Webb, President of the local Sierra Club Chapter, for putting me on the agenda and
to every one who I talked to at the meeting who wanted to know how they could get on board and stop this trashy plan. Apparently, the Sierra Club is the face of many of the lawsuits that have stopped developments and plans such as Hahn's from coming to fruition over the last few years in the Antelope Valley. Hopefully they'll oppose Los Angeles' trash-trucking plan and continue their record of success!

Readers Respond: Can't Believe Hahn

Just thought I'd share this letter published in today's Daily News:

Couldn't believe it

Re "Palmdale's demand for EIR may halt trash plan" (May 6):

I just couldn't believe that Mayor James Hahn would pledge to end the city's contract with the Sunshine Canyon landfill in Granada Hills. The reason he gave was to "help" the environment and then is planning to send the trash out of the city limits, like Palmdale where the Antelope Valley landfill is located.

I could not believe that the mayor would actually jeopardize Palmdale's environment just so he can look good - because he kept his word to the public that votes for him. That is why I am glad that Palmdale is not going to go down without a fight and that they are going to "respond aggressively ... to protect the Antelope Valley community."

Cristina Torres
Sylmar

It's good to hear people in Los Angeles talking sense!

Palmdale threatens Los Angeles over Trash Plan

The City of Palmdale has stepped into the battle to keep Los Angeles from sending its garbage to the Antelope Valley:

In a letter to the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation, Palmdale City Manager Robert W. Toone Jr. wrote that Palmdale is concerned with "the negative impacts that this action may have on our quality of life, health and safety and long-term waste disposal requirements."

Toone warned that Palmdale would "respond aggressively with the necessary actions and level of resources to protect the Antelope Valley community."

Hahn's office said Thursday the letter raised legal issues the mayor could not comment upon. City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo's office is reviewing the letter.

Hahn has repeated pledges to Granada Hills residents that he would end the city's contract with Sunshine Canyon Landfill, in response to their concerns about truck traffic and pollution. The dump, however, is permitted to operate for 25 years.

The City Council is expected to consider the trash contract later this month and decide whether to renew the contract with Browning Ferris Industries, which operates Sunshine Canyon Landfill, or sign a new contract with Waste Management Inc., which would truck trash to its dumps in Palmdale, Lancaster and Riverside County.

Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, who represents the Antelope Valley, has already come out against the Waste Management proposal.

It's fantastic to see Palmdale's leaders sticking up for their citizens! All the hard work you have put into educating them about this issue is paying off. Now, we just have to convince the L.A. City Council!

AVRTEC Opposes Importing L.A. Trash!!!

Elaine McDonald, President of the Antelope Valley Recreation, Trails and Environmental Council sent me a copy of this letter she sent recently to our elected officials:

As President of the Antelope Valley Recreation, Trails and Environmental Council, I speak on behalf of our organization. For the record, we are against the transportation of Los Angeles waste, by any means, to the Antelope Valley.

We reject the transportation of one million tons of trash per year which will add to our already congested 14 freeway. Even now, the landfills in the Antelope Valley have unacceptable environmental standards like air quality monitoring on site, and, simply were not created to handle the volume of garbage that the City of Los Angeles is proposing to dispose of in our Valley. Please know that we are aware of the fact that the City of Los Angeles has enough space to keep their own trash for the next twenty-five years.

We ask the City Councils of Palmdale and Lancaster to adopt resolutions opposing any proposal, by the City of Los Angeles, to dispose of its residential solid waste in Palmdale and Lancaster Landfills. We also ask that, before the City of Los Angeles, Palmdale or Lancaster make any decisions about transporting trash, that they be accountable to the public and hold public hearings.

Please come up with a better solution for the disposal of waste in the County of Los Angeles.

Nicely put, Elaine, and thank you for your support!

Candidates Oppose Transfer Station in San Fernando Valley

Both Jim Hahn and Antonio Villaraigosa--candidates for Mayor of Los Angeles--came out strongly against building a transfer station in Sun Valley:

One L.A. and its members from the northeast San Fernando Valley are also worried about the health effects of the Bradley Landfill in Sun Valley and are insistent that its capacity not be increased. They are also concerned about proposals to put a transfer station on the site, where trash would be stored until it was shipped out of the city to dumps farther afield, possibly in the Antelope Valley or Riverside County.

For nearby residents, the dump is an emotional issue.

Father Richard Zanotti, a Sun Valley priest, invited Hahn to the neighborhood and offered these directions: "Just follow all the garbage trucks."

Hahn said he was against expanding the landfill, and received applause when he said that a transfer station there was "probably not the best idea," since the area has borne so much of the burden of taking L.A.'s trash over the years.

Villaraigosa also received warm applause when he promised with a simple "yes" to oppose expanding the dump.

That's either good news, or bad news, for the Antelope Valley. It could mean that they're giving up their plans to send L.A. trash to Palmdale and Lancaster through that proposed transfer station...OR it could mean that all of the San Fernando Valley's trash will be trucked in on smaller garbage trucks, meaning more traffic and even more air pollution for us!!!

Mayor Ledford Urges Advocacy at County Level

It looks like we've stirred up quite a controversey! Every time the papers talk about trash, they mention the growing opposition to importing garbage from Los Angeles. Take Monday's Antelope Valley Press, for example:

During the discussions, council members made it a point to address concerns raised by the public over the possibility of Waste Management accepting large amounts of trash from other cities at the Palmdale landfill.

Last year, company officials expressed interest in hauling 4,700 tons of trash a day to landfills outside the city of Los Angeles after Mayor James Hahn pledged to close all landfills in his city by 2006.

Now - under a permit issued by Los Angeles County, not the city - the Palmdale landfill is limited to accepting 1,400 tons of trash per day, regardless of the source, said Steve Williams, Palmdale's assistant city manager of community development.

When Waste Management closes the current landfill area, called Phase One, in about two years and opens a new landfill area, called Phase Two, it will be limited to 1,800 tons a day by the county and the state, Williams said.

At present, Waste Management delivers about 1,100 tons of trash a day to the landfill, including about 500 tons a day from Palmdale, he said.

Residents who are concerned about the amount of additional waste being allowed into Palmdale's landfill should contact county officials, not municipal ones, Mayor Jim Ledford said.

Well actually, Supervisor Antonovich is already on our side--as are the five members of the Board of Supervisors. The people who need to hear our message now are the LA City Council--and it would be nice if Palmdale could speak up on behalf of its citizens!

Smith Engages in Newspaper Debate over Trash

Los Angeles City Councilman Greig Smith attacks Supervisor Antonovich in the Letters to the Editor of the Daily News:

Re "Antonovich responds" (Your Opinions, April 13):

The city of Los Angeles diverts 62 percent of its waste from landfills, incorporating source separation, recycling, resource recovery, composting, mulching and beneficial reuse. The city is looking at conversion technologies to maximize recovery efforts and further divert resources from landfills while creating renewable, clean energy - all within our own borders.

The county unincorporated areas have achieved a dismal 31 percent diversion - far below the 50 percent state mandate. The county's plan for the future? To rail-haul a minuscule 8,000 of their 37,000 trash tons per day to a remote desert landfill on already clogged rail lines.

The county purchased Mesquite Canyon, in Imperial County, specifically to export its own trash. County officials have said that they will also consider truck transfer to Mesquite. Supervisor (Michael D.) Antonovich and L.A. County would rather stick their heads in the sand at the expense of all its residents than consider the alternatives to landfilling.

Greig Smith
Los Angeles city councilman

Let me make this simple for the Councilman. Do whatever you please with your garbage, bt DO NOT SEND IT to the Antelope Valley!!!