Public can provide input on scope of landfill EIR

The county of Ventura will hold a local meeting June 2 to solicit public input on the scope of the environmental impact report (EIR) for the proposed expansion of the Simi Valley Landfill and Recycling Center.

This week, the Board of Supervisors approved a $455,823 contract with San Diegobased Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) for the completion of the EIR.

The document will analyze the potential environmental impacts of Waste Management's proposal to triple the size of the landfill to 887 acres, double the disposable trash intake to 6,000 tons per day and relocate G.I. Rubbish from its current facilities on W. Los Angeles Avenue.

Dan Klemann, a senior planner with Ventura County, said SAIC is already familiar with the Simi Valley Landfill because they prepared the EIR for a minor expansion of the site in 2002.

"When we sent out our requests for proposals, we limited our search to those firms who (a) have experience working on EIRs for landfills and (b) have experience in California," Klemann said. "SAIC does have a lot of experience in both federal and state projects throughout California."

As part of a recently created extraterritorial review process that ensures the city's voice is heard for projects just outside Simi Valley's jurisdiction, WM officials met with local neighborhood councils, the planning commission and the City Council earlier this year to gather questions for the EIR to address.

In February, the City Council submitted a full list of questions to the county from local agencies and the public. The list included 31 questions submitted by the Simi Valley Landfill Expansion Task Force- a citizens committee unofficially led by City Councilmember Barbra Williamson.

Task force member Louis Pandolfi told the Simi Valley Acorn this week that the committee will continue to report their concerns and will likely make a presentation at the June scoping meeting.

"That's a good next step towards evaluating all the environmental impacts that the project will present to the community," Pandolfi said.

The full list of questions submitted to the county address a broad range of concerns, from landfill odors and impacts on air quality to the effect on local water resources and the natural corridor.

Mike Williams, project manager for WM, said the waste hauler is "excited" about the process and anticipates the scoping meeting will add a few more elements to the range of the analysis.

He acknowledged that some adjustments to the proposal may be required after the report is completed.

"That's the beauty of an independent analysis by an expert consultant," Williams said. "We believe that (the project) is going to be very beneficial to the community, but the independent analysis will verify if that belief will be with or without impact.

"The county's been very diligent in ensuring that an independent and full review of the project takes place. From there we'll know what the impacts are, which is important to the community and to us," he said.

According to Klemann, the county is waiting for SAIC to submit a revised timeline of the environmental review process within the next few weeks.

"Assuming that everything goes fairly seamlessly, which is most likely not going to be the case for this project because it's so large, we're probably looking at four or five months for a Draft EIR to be completed," Klemann said.

The Draft EIR will be available to the public for review before it is finalized and used in public hearings.

The scoping meeting will take place at 6 p.m. Monday, June 2 in the Simi Valley Council Chamber at City Hall, 2929 Tapo Canyon Road.