Leachate

The state Regional Water Quality Control Board has authorized BKK Corp. to begin dumping trash at a new 100-acre section of its 583-acre landfill in West Covina. Robert Ghirelli, board executive officer, said BKK will install a clay liner and leachate collection system to protect ground water. "The requirements are very, very tough and BKK has said they will do everything we want them to do," Ghirelli said.

The City of West Covina, BKK Corp. and five regulatory agencies have reached agreement on a comprehensive plan to stop odors, ground water contamination and methane gas leaks at the BKK landfill. Attorneys will ask Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Norman Epstein on Monday to accept the agreement as a stipulated preliminary injunction, settling a lawsuit brought by West Covina against BKK and the regulatory agencies. City Atty.

Shocking environmentalists and water companies, a regional water board on Monday voted to allow an Azusa landfill to remain open two more years after its owners promised to take measures to prevent it from contaminating the San Gabriel Valley's underground water supply that it sits above. The regional Water Quality Control board voted 5 to 4, with the San Gabriel Valley's representative, San Dimas Mayor Terry Dipple, providing the vital vote to keep the Azusa Land Reclamation Co.

Three years ago, the 583-acre BKK landfill in West Covina was one of the nation's busiest toxic waste dumps, a money machine for its owners and the city of West Covina, grossing $23 million in one year and paying $2.3 million in city taxes. BKK Corp. was reaping the financial rewards of running the only toxic dump between the Mexican border and Casmalia, north of Santa Barbara. Waste poured in from 6,000 industries ranging from dry cleaning shops to chemical plants to oil refineries.

State officials monitoring the contaminated Operating Industries landfill near Montebello say that a preliminary injunction to be issued against the company will help protect the environment and nearby residents. "We were happy the judge granted as much relief as he did," said Deputy Atty. Gen. Lisa Trankley. "We expect compliance will go a long way toward solving much of the problem." Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Norman Epstein ruled Aug.

State officials say they made a mistake when they included 45 acres near a closed Monterey Park landfill in their nominations for the federal Superfund list to qualify for aid in cleaning up hazardous waste sites. But some federal officials believe that the 45 acres belong there anyway. A state Department of Health Services administrator said his department had not intended to include the 45 acres when it nominated the 135-acre Operating Industries landfill for the Superfund list in 1982.

Nearly a month after 2,200 tons of New York City garbage left for a Midwest dump, the oft-rejected load returned Friday, having chugged about 3,000 miles to reach a resting place 20 miles from home. The garbage, which originated in the South Bronx, arrived in Kearny, N. J., on 30 flatbed rail cars and was to be taken by truck to Fresh Kills landfill on Staten Island. The 26-day trip included stops in Illinois, Kansas and Missouri. Each time the train was turned away.

The Main San Gabriel Basin Watermaster, concerned about possible ground-water contamination posed by the Azusa Land Reclamation Co.'s expansion plans, has appealed a regional water board's approval to the state. A spokeswoman for the state Water Quality Control Board said she could not estimate when, or whether, the appeal would be heard. Watermaster officials say they may ask the state board to stop the dump from expanding until the appeal is heard.

Gov. George Deukmejian on Monday announced that he has signed a bill to prohibit new landfills being developed in the contaminated San Gabriel Valley Water Basin. The measure, by Assemblywoman Sally Tanner (D-Baldwin Park), would block expansion of existing garbage dumps or new landfills in at least 12 large gravel pits along the San Gabriel River. Initially, the bill also would have blocked a proposed increase in the size of the Azusa Land Reclamation Co.