Monitor Proposed to Oversee Dump

Citing concerns over environmental compliance at the Sunshine Canyon Landfill, two Valley politicians proposed Wednesday that the city hire a monitor to oversee the dump.

Los Angeles City Councilmen Mike Feuer and Hal Bernson, whose North Valley district includes the landfill, introduced a motion suggesting that landfill operator Browning-Ferris Industries pay for the monitor.

The move comes as county officials are considering removing an on-site inspector for the county portion of the landfill, operating on 215 acres just outside city limits. In 1999, the City Council approved the dump’s expansion, over the fierce protests of residents, into 194 acres in Granada Hills. Bernson and Feuer both voted against the expansion.

“The city made a commitment to the neighbors of Sunshine Canyon that we’d look after their environmental safety, and we’re going to live up to that commitment regardless of what the county does,” Bernson said in a statement.

In a related action, City Atty. James Hahn sent a letter Wednesday to city environmental officials asking that the monitor be retained when city and county agencies hash out the terms of joint oversight at the landfill.

In October, air quality officials issued two notices of violation to Browning-Ferris for improper excavation work and four “notices to comply” warning of methane gas leaks at the dump.

Hahn, a candidate for mayor, has repeatedly urged regulators to consider criminal prosecution as a response to environmental violations at the landfill.