FALLBROOK: Landfill meeting draws opponents
Ruth Harber of Valley Center, a member of the group RiverWatch, comments on the Gregory Canyon Landfill proposal during a meeting June 27 at the Fallbrook Library
An information meeting on the Gregory Canyon Landfill drew an audience of about 200 to the Fallbrook Library, where a majority of speakers urged the state's waste board to reject the proposed project.
The Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery, or CalRecycle, heard comments on the landfill, which is proposed for an undeveloped, 1,770-acre parcel near Pala.
The agency must decide by mid-July whether to concur with or object to the county's May 13 approval of the project, said Acting Director Mark Leary.
It must base that decision on factors including the project's compliance with state minimum standards for waste disposal sites and the operator's ability to cover liability and closing costs for the dump.
Speakers argued that the landfill, to be located across the San Luis Rey River, south of Highway 76 and about three miles east of Interstate 15, poses a risk to the waterway and local groundwater supplies.
Calling the project a "threat to water," San Diego County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price said the site rests on "porous, cracked bedrock," and provides drinking and agricultural water for Oceanside residents, the Pala Band of Mission Indians and local farmers.
"The ground will not hold water nor liquid waste," she said. "It will not contain anything that leaks."
Hershell Price, a board member for the San Diego County Water Authority, said the landfill, which could eventually contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals, would not be fail-safe.
"When that ever gives way, how are you ever going to get that out of the water supply?" he said.
Bill Hutton, an attorney for the landfill, said the presumption that the landfill would leak is based on outdated studies, adding that it would be safer than older facilities.
"Trash has to go somewhere," he said. "It's better to go to the new landfill."
Greg Saul, an engineer for the project, pointed to a cylindrical model of the landfill liner, showing layers of plastic and gravel that he said would contain leaks, drawing laughs and boos from the mostly critical audience.
"I've heard people say this doesn't meet the regulations," he said. "That's true. It exceeds them."
Other speakers said the landfill would threaten habitat for endangered species, disrupt the aesthetics of scenic Highway 76, and disturb cultural and religious resources of local tribes.
The proposed dump would be near Medicine Rock, said Robert H. Smith, chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians.
"It would be like a desecration of our church," he said.
Bonsall resident Helene Brazier said the facility would increase air pollution by drawing truck traffic from surrounding counties.
"This is a Trojan horse," she said.
Although many of the comments Monday focused on the project's potential effects on the surrounding area and watercourse, Leary said that the landfill's location is "entirely a local decision," and that the board would not consider location in its deliberations.
"The statute doesn't give us the authority to second-guess the placement of facilities," he said.
Nonetheless, Leary said, subsequent reviews by the San Diego Regional Water Quality Control Board, the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District and other agencies would address the environmental issues specific to the landfill's location.
"Together it represents a comprehensive review," he said.
Call staff writer Deborah Sullivan Brennan at 760-740-5420.
