Dumps Ventura County

Ventura County Supervisor Maggie Kildee announced Wednesday that she is no longer convinced that building a new landfill is the solution to the county's solid-waste problems, a decision that could spell doom for the proposed Weldon Canyon dump. Kildee, who is considered the swing vote on the fate of the new landfill near Ojai, told a room of about 135 constituents at a breakfast meeting that the county should look at other options for waste disposal.

After years of trying to decide what to do with the Bailard Landfill once it closes, sanitation officials unveiled a plan Thursday to transform the dump into a regional park with bicycle paths and two lakes surrounded by sandy beaches. The Ventura Regional Sanitation District's board of directors--made up of representatives of the county's cities and special districts--agreed to study a staff proposal that would convert the landfill and surrounding area into a 280-acre park.

A final environmental impact report on the proposed Weldon Canyon landfill was released Tuesday, indicating that the project would pollute the air less than hauling the county's trash to a Utah dump by train. Weldon landfill opponents, however, said most of that pollution would foul the air outside Ventura County, and that hauling the trash by rail would cause less pollution inside the county's borders than would hundreds of trucks driving trash to Weldon Canyon each day.

The Ventura City Council on Monday decided to send the city's garbage to Bailard Landfill, guaranteeing the financially strapped facility a steady income. Increased recycling, the recent drought and competitive prices from rival landfills have caused the amount of trash sent to the county's largest and oldest operating landfill to drop in recent years, officials said. The drought brought a decrease in "green waste," yard clippings and waste.

The debate surrounding the proposed Weldon Canyon landfill upstaged the opening of a garden-waste recycling center in Ojai on Saturday, as more than 200 people showed up for a ribbon-cutting ceremony that became a showcase for landfill opponents. After surveying the throng--many wearing "Dump Weldon" T-shirts and carrying homemade anti-Weldon landfill signs--Supervisor Maggie Kildee spoke briefly about the recycling center before addressing the proposed dump.

A standing-room-only crowd packed a high school gymnasium in Ojai on Friday night to hear speakers blast plans to place a landfill at nearby Weldon Canyon. About 1,500 people, some carrying signs and sporting T-shirts denouncing the proposed dump, filled the Nordhoff High School gym for a 90-minute town meeting organized by a group called the Coalition to Stop Weldon Canyon Dump.

A group of Ojai Valley residents has launched a last-ditch effort to keep a trash dump out of the Ojai Valley. The 3-week-old Coalition to Stop Weldon Canyon Dump has called an "emergency town meeting" for tonight at Ojai's Nordhoff High School. At the meeting, coalition members will solicit concerns from residents and urge them to join a letter-writing campaign aimed at members of the county Board of Supervisors, said the group's spokesman, television producer Michael Shapiro.

A timeout has been called in the legal battle over who should pay the maintenance costs for the Bailard Landfill once it closes. Two years ago, the Ventura Regional Sanitation District sued the owners of the landfill near Oxnard, alleging that they refused to pay the anticipated $15.2-million post-closure bill for the dump site. The owner countersued, claiming that the sanitation district failed to control household hazardous wastes coming into Bailard.

Oxnard representatives have backed down from demanding the immediate closure of the Bailard Landfill, saying they would be willing to extend the life of the dump in exchange for the creation of a park or wildlife sanctuary there once it shuts down. Since late last year, Oxnard officials had been pushing for closure of Ventura County's largest landfill as soon as its permit expires in December.

In a major step toward a final vote on the proposed Weldon Canyon landfill, the Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted 4 to 1 Tuesday to recommend that the county Planning Commission approve an environmental impact report on the project.