Lopez Canyon Landfill Neighbors Attack Findings in Expansion Plan Report

Lake View Terrace residents lashed out Friday night at an environmental impact report that predicts the proposed expansion of the nearby Lopez Canyon Landfill will not significantly harm the community.

Residents and aides representing three San Fernando Valley lawmakers said the report grossly underestimates the hazards of enlarging the dump and urged the Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation to conduct more environmental studies. Others asked the bureau, which prepared the report, to drop the proposed $16-million expansion entirely.

Rob Zapple of the Kagel Canyon Civic Assn. said the possible impact on nearby residents of chemicals and other wastes in the enlarged dump was simple: “You get a tumor, you die.”

Zapple spoke to 100 residents who filled the Lake View Terrace Recreation Center for a public hearing on the environmental impact report, which was released in November.

The inch-thick report said an enlarged landfill would have few, if any, adverse effects on traffic, water quality or the health of nearby residents. The report conceded that the proposed expansion would lead to more noise and a “slight deterioration of local and regional air quality.”

The landfill in the northeast Valley had been expected to close in 1992, but city officials said in August that they planned to extend its life to 2005 and double the daily trash intake. Under the plan, the city would tear down a mountain ridge--about 6 million cubic yards of dirt--to enlarge the landfill. The number of trash trucks lumbering into the dump each day would double to 800.

Zapple said the report did not assess the potential hazards of sewage sludge, a mud-like waste product from raw sewage treatment facilities. City engineers propose dumping 1,200 tons of sewage sludge in Lopez Canyon each day. The sludge contains pesticides, chemicals, arsenic, heavy metals and even viruses, he said.

Lise Crowell, a Lake View Terrace resident, said the report did not address the dangers of trash trucks passing two elementary schools near the dump. “There are traffic signals, but with small children, I think this is a tremendous hazard,” she said.

Kristian W. Vosburgh, speaking for Assemblywoman Marian W. La Follette (R-Northridge), said the city should enlarge its recycling programs, not landfills.

“The city has failed to address the mounting solid waste crises and is now attempting to force north Valley residents to bear the burden of its negligence,” he said.

Laura Leganza, speaking for Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda), said: “The northeast Valley has been dumped on long enough.”

Greg Jackson, a spokesman for Los Angeles City Councilman Ernani Bernardi, repeated the councilman’s opposition to the project.

The Bureau of Sanitation must respond to the Friday’s remarks when it prepares the final report, expected by April.