Since the release of the draft environmental impact report for the proposed expansion of the Simi Valley Landfill, city officials and concerned residents have been poring over the document to decipher the project’s potential impact on the community.

Some have already come to the conclusion that they simply do not want a larger landfill in their hometown.

The city, meanwhile, will not take an official position on the expansion until after the impact report is finalized.

Lauren Funaiole, senior planner in environmental services, said the staff’s primary goal is to see that comments made during the extraterritorial review process two years ago are addressed in the EIR.

“The main focus is checking to see if impacts on Simi Valley have been properly analyzed, disclosed and mitigated,” she said.

Waste Management’s proposed expansion would 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 facility on W. Los Angeles Avenue to the landfill area.

The waste hauler also wants to add a household hazardous waste collection center and a facility to transform methane gas into liquefied natural gas for truck fuel.

Funaiole said there were a number of areas of concern that were brought up during the initial review process by the City Council, planning commission, neighborhood councils and city staff.

Concerns included increased truck traffic and wear and tear on the freeway, visual impacts and odors.

More trucks, more traffic

The landfill is permitted to have a maximum of 822 round trips per day. According to the draft environmental impact report, it currently receives 470 truck trips per day plus 22 employee vehicle trips.

If the expansion were approved, the landfill is projected to generate up to 892 round trips per day plus 405 additional trips by employees of the landfill and G.I. Rubbish, bringing the total projected trips to 1,297 per day.

Residents and city officials worry about what kind of effect this will have on Madera Road and the freeway. It was one of the issues that came up at last week’s planning commission meeting to review the 570-page report.

“The amount of trips into the dump . . . (would be) almost 1,300 truck trips per day,” Commissioner Mary Bibb said. “And apparently it’s not really going to affect the traffic. I don’t quite understand how it won’t affect traffic in the area.”

A traffic study indicated that though the segment of freeway near the landfill currently operates at “unacceptable” levels, the expansion would not worsen the situation. Also, the street intersections near the landfill would continue to operate at an acceptable level of service.

Some have questioned that assessment given the fact that other regional landfills will close in the next few years, leaving Simi to accept more of Southern California’s trash.

Potential eyesore

Another concern is that expanding the footprint of the landfill would ruin the surrounding viewsheds, particularly from the 118 Freeway and elevated locations around town, like Big Sky.

“When this thing gets done you are going to see this landfill from the Reagan Library,” Mayor Pro Tem Barbra Williamson said. “It will be the second largest manmade structure in Ventura County.”

According to the impact report, the expansion would “degrade scenic areas or features or significantly alter them during construction and operation.” Bibb said she doesn’t want the scenic route along the freeway destroyed.

“I know I’m old-fashioned and I don’t want to see much progress, but I love driving through that and seeing that little valley,” she said.

Putting up a stink Neighborhood Council No. 2 reviewed the landfill report at its Oct. 13 meeting, and one of the main concerns was that of smell.

Randy Nemecek, chair of the council, said there were three people in the audience who spoke, two that he knows live in Big Sky, who felt the document did not sufficiently cover the odor issue.

“Two of the three mentioned that they can smell the existing landfill from their homes today,” Nemecek said. “People were very concerned that if it were expanded to three times its size, the smell would be three times as bad.”

He said he could understand their feelings because, as a Big Sky resident himself, he has smelled the landfill from his home, driving along the 118 Freeway and at the Simi Valley Town Center.

According to the EIR, project construction would increase air pollutants due to the combustion of diesel fuel, emissions that some people find “objectionable.” It is difficult to quantify the impact of these odors on the public.

If WM continues its current practices to mitigate odors, then “project operations would not expose the public to significant levels of odors,” according to the EIR.

Question of need

Williamson’s main objection to the expansion continues to be that there is no need for it since the landfill isn’t scheduled to close under its current permit until 2034.

She said WM is in a hurry to expand because Puente Hills Landfill in Los Angeles County is scheduled to close in 2013.

“Waste Management needs to have a place to bring their garbage, and they think Simi Valley is going to be the dumping ground,” she said. “I don’t think the residents mind taking care of Ventura County and the trash we accumulate here, but I’ll be doggoned if we take care of L.A. County, San Bernardino and points beyond.”

Planning Commissioner Michael McGuigan said he is also against the expansion.

“I think there are too many items that have a significant impact and still after mitigation have a significant impact, and I think all those items need to be looked at,” he said.

Nemecek said the overall feeling at the neighborhood council meeting was that the expansion is not good for the city.

“I don’t think this is something that needs to be rushed. There’s many years until it’s actually going to be needed; there’s plenty of opportunity for a more thorough analysis . . . and to get more feedback from residents,” he said.