Calabasas landfill causes a stink

By Michael Picarella
pic@theacorn.com

LANDFILL CONTROVERSY-Residents of the Saratoga Hills community located south of the Calabasas landfill are frustrated with the facility's noise, dust and seagulls. They also are worried that the landfill will erode property values of homes located near-by. In addition, one resident said the rising berms (the lighter areas at left), which are created as the facility expands, have become eyesores. Landfill officials say they are happy to meet with residents to resolve concerns.

It’s been more than 40 years since the Calabasas Landfill opened, but friction still exists between the garbage dump and residents who live nearby. Landfill representatives and city officials continue to work with the community to resolve problems.

The Calabasas Landfill, located at 5300 Lost Hills Road, just north of the 101 Freeway, has been criticized for being obtrusive, loud and dirty, and for attracting seagulls which leave droppings throughout neighborhoods.

"A community and a landfill are incompatible land uses," said Calabasas Mayor Pro Tem Barry Groveman. "So we have to do the best we can."

Bob Shymkiw, a four-year resident of the Saratoga Hills community just south of the dump, said noises from the landfill are so loud that he can’t keep his windows open during hot summer days.

"My neighbor just told me that he could not even carry on a conversation in the back of his yard as it is so loud," Shymkiw said. "He cannot hear the others speak even with shouting—that is quite loud."

The noise issue is being addressed, according to Groveman.

"The noise is principally from two sources," Groveman said. One is the beeping sounds trucks make when they back up. Those warning signals are safety devices that are mandatory, Groveman said.

The other noises are loud blasts and screeching machines—which sound like band saws—that are used to scare off seagulls.

"The seagulls create big problems because they tend to carry trash off and often they’ll drop it in the nearby neighborhoods—it’s a big problem," Groveman said.

The Calabasas Landfill also uses monofilament wires across the operating area to keep out seagulls, said John Gulledge, department head of the Los Angeles County Sanitation District.

"If you’ve ever seen a seagull land, you’d notice they use a circular pattern," Gulledge said. "And by virtue of seeing these lines, it disrupts a seagull’s landing pattern and keeps them away from the area."

Groveman said action is being taken. "I called a meeting (in September) with the landfill manager and his staff, along with 12 or 15 members of the community near the landfill, for the purposes of evaluating whether we could work out a cooperative way to solve the community’s problems with the landfill."

Groveman said landfill officials are cooperating with the city and the community and progress is being made.

According to Candice Weber, president of the Community Association of Saratoga Hills and a resident of the neighborhood for 19 years, "(The landfill people) have been very cooperative in trying everything that they can to work with us and be very good neighbors. I feel that there’s definite progress being made on several avenues. One of them is real open communication."

Among other measures, the landfill lowered the volume of truck back-up beeps and eliminated the screeching machine that wards off the seagulls.

"They’re now using a remote controlled model airplane to scare away the birds, which I think is very creative of them," Weber said. Landfill officials said they’d notify residents in advance if they have to again use shotgun blasts or screeching machines.

"That’s an example of what happens when people think out of the box and cooperate," Groveman said.

"We have other problems and they’re not all solved," he added. "But the landfill has been making an effort and we have to keep on it." The mayor pro tem is confident that landfill officials will address all issues.

Concerns from Saratoga Hills

Shymkiw said his neighborhood’s "quality of life" iis being destroyed.

"This has to be one of the most critical issues facing Calabasas this year," Shymkiw said. "When I moved here four years ago, the landfill operators let us know they were moving operations to the north side . . . Now they’ve been operating next to us for the past year and it’s not improving."

Shymkiw is worried that as the dump expands south closer to his neighborhood, property values are declining.

"We have a plan that’s been in effect for 30 years in terms of the ultimate fill design associated with the Calabasas Landfill," Gulledge said.

"We had an initial operating area that we then expanded to the north, and then we expanded to the east, and it kind of comes back around almost like a semi circle back to the east, and then sort of back to the south again. This is all prescribed in all of our permits and there’s nothing new associated with any of that."

Shymkiw said berms associated with rising garbage in the dump site are creating an eyesore that can be seen from his home. The city has suggested the berms be landscaped.

The purpose of the berms is to shield the dump.

"The landfill is continually getting higher and that’s part of the typical design associated with it," Gulledge said.

Shymkiw said the berms are not effective. He says the landfill must be operating "illegally."

"We’re operating just like our permit tells us to operate," said Calabasas Landfill site engineer Ethan Laden. "And we meet with homeowners associations every year or every other year about where the landfill is going in the future, what operations they’re currently seeing and what big projects we have coming up so that people are aware of what’s going on."

The landfill is projected to be filled in 15 years and must be closed at that time, officials say. The state evaluates the landfill every 18 months.

Other issues addressed

Shymkiw said his neighborhood also has to tolerate excessive dust from the landfill.

"Neighbors are mentioning that there’s this dust film on their vehicles immediately after they wash them clean," Shymkiw said.

But Gulledge said landfill employees do the best they can to keep dust down at a minimum.

"We go a long way to try and assure that we don’t have dust issues," he said. "We use a lot of water trucks around the site . . . Now, I think dust in that area is just a general problem because of the native hills and things of that nature. That’s not to say that the landfill can’t create an issue, but we try to stay on top of that."

According to Gulledge, the landfill has tried to address all issues.

"We’re always available to meet with people or discuss things with people about what we’re doing," Gulledge said.

The public is invited to contact Laden at (818) 889-0363 or Gulledge at (323) 685-5217 to discuss their landfill concerns.