Mailbag: Visit to Bee Canyon landfill is eye-opening
On Veterans Day, about 45 members of Transition Laguna visited the Frank R. Bowerman Landfill in Bee Canyon in the hills beyond the 241 Toll Road in Irvine. We also had some visitors from Transition Los Angeles.
We were shown around by Eric Hobson, landfill operations supervisor, who told us this is one of three landfills in O.C., the others being in Brea and San Juan Capistrano. All three are county-operated facilities, unlike some landfills that are privately-run.
This is a gigantic operation, and is one of the largest such landfills in the country. The hill of earth-covered trash towered above us, with a constant procession of garbage trucks laboring up the grade to get to the dumping area on top. Currently, it is accepting around 6,000 tons a day, down from more than 8,000 tons daily at the peak of the construction boom. Since this is at least 500 trucks a day, this adds considerably to the atmospheric and environmental pollution in the county.
It covers more than 700 acres and has sufficient capacity to last until 2053 at the current daily tonnage.
We were driven up to the top on a very windy day, and it was noticeable that a huge number of plastic bags and other plastic film had gotten loose and was being blown all over by the wind and was trapped by the surrounding fences. As we watched the trucks unloading, it was apparent that much of the material was in fact recyclable. We were told that the greatest percentage by weight of material delivered to the dump is paper, all of which is recyclable.
Clearly, people are not being sufficiently conscientious in sorting out their recyclables. All the plastic bags we saw blowing about should not have been there and should have been recycled.
The facility has a methane extraction facility (methane is a much more virulent greenhouse gas than CO2), which was being liquefied. They have plans for a 5MW power plant to be driven by the methane, sufficient for 3,000 homes.
It is pretty salutary to visit this place and see the end-game of the consumer society. This is a good example of “out of sight, out of mind.” Everybody would benefit by visiting this landfill, children particularly, of which we had many on our trip, and they were fascinated by the giant machines in operation.
On the plastic bag issue, there are several moves afoot to ban single-use plastic shopping bags. The recent proposition for a state-wide ban was rejected by the voters after heavy expenditure by the plastic bag manufacturers, but there are local initiatives. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors voted Nov. 16 to ban plastic bags in unincorporated areas of that county, and the Laguna Beach City Council recently voted for a ban, subject to the outcome of pending litigation in Huntington Beach.
Incredibly, in California alone, more than 19 billion plastic bags are used annually, of which an insignificant amount is recycled.
Charles Alban
Laguna Beach
*
Hunger Week a great success
The Second Annual Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week was a great success thanks to the support of our community.
With the help of our partner, Waste Management, our schools, churches, businesses and neighbors donated thousands of pounds of food, and we’re still counting.
The Hunger Bowl event, hosted by the Neighborhood Congregational Church, was a wonderful evening, with guests sipping soup donated by La Sirena Grill, K’YA, Mark’s, Nick’s, Stalker’s Fine Foods and Sundried Tomato. Devine Desserts and The Laguna Coffee Company served up delicious coffee and dessert.
Our enthusiastic guests turned the silent auction into a “competitive sport” as they bid on the bowls donated by generous artists and VIPs, while listening to music of Jamie Browning, sponsored by Mozambique.
The evening ended with a gift of bowls made by children at St. Catherine of Siena Parish School and the Boys and Girls Club.
The city of Laguna Beach Housing and Human Services Committee wishes to thank all the businesses, organizations and individuals who donated their time and resources to this very important week benefiting the Laguna Relief and Resource Center.
Lauriann Meyer
Laguna Beach
EDITOR’S NOTE: Lauriann Meyer is chairwoman of the City of Laguna Beach Housing and Human Services Committee.