OCEANSIDE: Advisory panel says no to landfill

By RAY HUARD rhuard@nctimes.com

An advisory panel charged with overseeing Oceanside's water supply voted Tuesday to "send a message to the City Council" against construction of the Gregory Canyon landfill.

I'm totally opposed to this, "Utilities Commission chairman Brian Boyle said in urging the commission to advise the City Council to continue the city's long-standing opposition to the landfill.

"We know for sure there is no landfill in history that has not failed," Boyle said.

The landfill proposed by Gregory Canyon Ltd. Would cover more than 200 acres of land near Pala.

The City Council in a 3-2 vote last month adopted a resolution opposing state legislation that would kill the landfill. Councilmen Jerry Kern, Jack Feller and Gary Felien voted for the measure and Mayor Jim Wood and Councilwoman Esther Sanchez voted against it.

Felien initially wanted the council to reverse the city's long-standing opposition to the landfill, but backed off when he failed to win support from other council members.

Wood and Sanchez have opposed the landfill. Kern said the decision should be left to regulators.

Resident Larry Barry said at Tuesday's meeting that concerns over pollution from the landfill have been exaggerated.

"The hysteria that's going over this is nuts," Barry said. "We need to put our trash somewhere."

But Nadine Scott, chairwoman of the city Integrated Waste Commission, said objections raised over the landfill were legitimate.

"There's no need for this landfill or perhaps any other in the future," Scott said.

Oceanside has opposed the landfill since 1990 because city officials said it threatens water the city gets from the San Luis Rey aquifer, which the city treats to provide about 20 percent of its drinking water.

The city at one point joined a lawsuit filed by the Pala Band of Indians and an environmental group challenging the environmental impact report done of the landfill.

The Pala Band is continuing its court fight against the landfill in part because it intrudes on land considered sacred by the tribe.

Resident Jim Hamilton, who also attended Tuesday's meeting, said the landfill was too risky.

"What happens if it fails? Then we potentially have lost 20 percent of our water supply, which is awful, terrible," Hamilton said. "The consequences are severe. They're not something we can walk away from."

Call staff writer Ray Huard at 760-901-4062.