Mission Canyon

Everyone in Mission Canyon knew these days of flame and smoke would come. It was just a matter of when and how bad it would get. They had staged evacuation drills, set up phone trees and put herds of brush-munching goats to work. They had cut down clusters of eucalyptus and bought metal shutters to protect against flying embers. By Thursday, the Jesusita fire had scorched the canyon's green umbrella and destroyed dozens of homes.

At 9 a.m. Thursday, three men met on the ridge and studied the mountainside above their homes. The worst looked to be over. White smoke rose in listless little spirals from blackened earth. The air was still. The mourning doves did their usual dirge from the overhead lines. Sprinklers swish-swished. But Santa Barbara's endemic twist on the Santa Ana -- the "sundowner" wind -- is as cagey as it is ferocious.

Conservationists and residents living near some Santa Monica Mountains canyons no longer need worry about the county putting a garbage dump next door. Formally killing off what already was regarded as an unlikely possibility, the Los Angeles County Public Works Department has officially eliminated the Mission, Rustic and Sullivan canyons as possible sites for county landfills. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky announced Monday that Harry W.

Conservationists and residents living near some Santa Monica Mountains canyons no longer need worry about the county putting a garbage dump next door. Formally killing off what was already regarded as an unlikely possibility, the Los Angeles County Public Works Department has officially eliminated the canyons as possible sites for county landfills. County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky announced Monday that Harry W.

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday agreed to delay exploration of building a $250-million water filtration system in Mission Canyon, a defunct landfill in the Sepulveda Pass. The council action--introduced by Councilman Marvin Braude--came after Sepulveda Pass homeowner activists denounced the filtration plant idea, saying it was hatched in secret, would introduce industrial uses into the mountains and cost taxpayers plenty.

The fate of the Lopez Canyon dump site is before the Los Angeles City Council for the umpteenth time. At one time, Valley rubbish was dumped into city sites outside the Valley. Lopez Canyon was established as a dump site to reduce the amount of rubbish dumped at Mission Canyon and other city sites as well to reduce costs by dumping Valley rubbish closer to home. However, today all those other sites are closed and Lopez Canyon, instead of just taking its share, as had been agreed, is forced to accept 85% of all the city's rubbish.

Construction of a $250-million water filtration plant in Mission Canyon now appears impossible, Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude said Thursday. Braude said he was advised by City Atty. James K. Hahn that a proposal by the Department of Water and Power for a filtration facility at the Brentwood site would violate city zoning regulations. The DWP is expected to find a site in an industrial zone somewhere in the San Fernando Valley, he said.

Construction of a $250-million water filtration plant in Mission Canyon--site of a defunct landfill in Sepulveda Pass--now appears impossible, Los Angeles City Councilman Marvin Braude said Thursday. Braude said he was advised by City Atty. James K. Hahn that a proposal by the Department of Water and Power for a filtration facility at the site would violate city zoning regulations. The DWP will be expected to find a site in an industrial zone somewhere else in the San Fernando Valley, he said.

I would like to respond to former Councilman Ernani Bernardi's letter, "Petition Assemblyman to Close Lopez Canyon" (July 23). Mr. Bernardi seems to be missing the point altogether about Lopez Canyon. I applaud him for coming to the defense of the Lopez Canyon neighbors--they have indeed suffered enough. But the issue isn't whether or not it should remain open; the issue is about the archaic idea that dumps belong in neighborhoods "closer to home." Mr. Bernardi suggests reopening Mission Canyon and gutting Rustic and Sullivan canyons.