OXNARD : Landfill, Nuns Reach Preliminary Accord
Operators of the Bailard Landfill near Oxnard, and Catholic nuns from a nearby convent have agreed on a preliminary settlement aimed at ending their four-month dispute.
Guided by a mediator, the nuns and district officials spent 14 hours Friday working on the agreement.
“We reached a tentative agreement and now we have to refine the agreement,†said David Worley, attorney for the Ventura Regional Sanitation District, which operates the landfill.
The dispute between the nuns and the district began after the Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted in March to extend the life of the landfill until May, 1997. The dump had been scheduled to close in December, 1993.
The nuns, who run a convent about 500 feet from the landfill, complained that dust, noise and odor from the dump were unhealthy and at times unbearable. They asked the district to buy their property and find them someplace else to live.
Last May the district filed a lawsuit to force the nuns to accept $96,500 as compensation for their inconvenience. If both parties agree on the settlement, the lawsuit will be dismissed, Worley said.
Both parties agreed not to disclose terms of the agreement until July 21 when the district’s board will decide whether to approve it, Worley said.
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