One local resident has decided to take his opposition to the expansion of the Simi Valley Landfill online in search of support.

Scott Ranelletti has created a Web petition in opposition to Waste Management’s proposal to expand the landfill.

He sent out a link to the petition on Nov. 15, and 149 residents had signed the petition as of Wednesday.

After seeing articles in the newspaper and reading through the environmental impact report, Ranelletti decided to start a petition to get the word out about the expansion and to make sure that local officials know Simi residents are not pleased by the prospect of a bigger dump.

“I didn’t want the county or Waste Management to let this slip by the people of Simi Valley . . . thinking that there’s no opposition when the people aren’t aware of what’s going on,” he said.

He said the petition has been well received by his neighbors and there’s a general consensus of support against the expansion.

The petition urges the county Board of Supervisors—who will have the final say on whether the expansion goes through—to deny WM’s proposal and to vote for the “no project” alternative.

Ranelletti, an eight-year Simi resident, said he initially objected to the project because he already can smell the landfill from his home in Big Sky.

“I smell it occasionally,” the 44year-old said. “It’s not that bad; it’s more of a concern for the future. Because if there’s some days we can smell it now, it’s likely there will be more days in the future if it’s expanded.”

But Ranelletti’s concern is more than odor. His overriding objection to the project is that the landfill is being expanded to accommodate trash from outside Ventura County—specifically from Los Angeles County. He believes expanding the total daily intake of the landfill would negatively impact the community by increasing truck traffic and odors and destroying the open space acreage around the landfill.

He added that the expansion is unnecessary since the landfill never reaches its daily permitted capacity. He said if the landfill—which is currently permitted to accept waste until 2034—is underutilized now, there’s no reason it should be expanded to meet L.A.’s needs.

According to Waste Management, the landfill provides 60 percent of Ventura County’s daily refuse disposal needs. Along with Toland Road in Santa Paula, the two landfills take more than 90 percent of local solid waste.

However, a third of the waste handled by the Simi landfill already comes from outside the county. The landfill currently receives about 2 percent of L.A.’s trash.

The landfill is also dependent on other communities to manage waste it cannot, such as hazardous materials, green and biomedical waste, recyclables, tires, automobiles, electronics and paint.

Ranelletti plans to continue to collect signatures up until the time the issue goes before the county. He’ll then print the petition and send it to the Board of Supervisors.