Supervisors OK Plan for Reforestation of Landfill

Los Angeles County supervisors Tuesday unanimously approved an oak and fir tree reforestation plan for the Sunshine Canyon Landfill expansion, although the future of the expansion itself is in doubt.

The supervisors have approved the spread of the trash dump onto 200 acres of wooded canyon above Granada Hills. But opponents are pressing a court case that successfully overturned an earlier approval of the same expansion.

In the case, Judge Ronald Sohigian directed the landfill operator, Browning-Ferris Industries, to revise its environmental impact report on the project. Based on the revised report, the board in July readopted the expansion. The judge is expected to rule later this month on whether the revision was adequate.

The tree plan approved Tuesday will be carried out only if the expansion is allowed.

It calls for Browning-Ferris to furnish a letter of credit in the amount of $1 million, which would be tapped to reimburse the county for monitoring the reforestation program.

Browning-Ferris would have to keep a record of every native oak and Douglas fir tree removed. The oaks would have to be replaced with at least two oak saplings in other areas of the canyon and nearby public lands. The fir trees would have to be replaced at a ratio of five to one.

In addition, Browning-Ferris would be required to keep the trees alive for at least five years or replace them if they did not survive that long.

During those five years, the company would have to submit an annual inventory by a horticulturist or forester.

The county forester would have the right to conduct unannounced inspections of the reforested areas.