No Done Deal on Elsmere Canyon

Los Angeles city and county are very proud of themselves. They have put aside their differences and decided they are going to dump all of Los Angeles’ trash in the Santa Clarita Valley. They have dreamed up a document that pits community against community and they think that these communities will be so busy fighting among themselves they will overlook the flaws in this agreement.

People are rapidly becoming aware that the trash crisis is not going to go away by simply opening up new dumps. People are also becoming aware that dumps in or near populated areas are dangerous to the environment as well as humans. People, for the most part, are willing to do whatever is necessary to prevent the future blight to the ever-dwindling virgin land. People realize that what is done or not done now is going to affect whether our children and grandchildren enjoy this earth or will have to live with time bombs in the form of toxic dumps. There is no such thing as a nontoxic dump. It has been proven time and again that ordinary household waste is toxic and that no one knows the consequences of mixing these toxins and allowing them to fester for hundreds of years.

The agreement between Los Angeles city and county does not address the reality that solutions must be found to reduce the amount of trash generated. It does quite the opposite. It places a minimum amount of trash, 132,000 tons per month, that must be dumped into Elsmere to generate enough tipping fees to finance their pipe dreams.

Los Angeles city and county would like the public to believe that because they have come to this ludicrous agreement, it is a done deal. In fact, none of the legal process has taken place to learn whether turning Elsmere Canyon into a dump is environmentally sound.

In fact, studies have shown this canyon is not a good location for a dump. This is not a done deal and they might as well look into other solutions because the people are not going to allow the desecration of another beautiful canyon merely because it is the easiest and cheapest way out for the Los Angeles City Council and the County Board of Supervisors.

MARSH McLEAN

Newhall