Expansion of Landfill a Better Choice in Long Run : Environmental benefits of Sunshine Canyon project outweigh the costs. The land has already been degraded, and site’s operator is offering a long list of mitigations.

For years, the proposed expansion of the landfill in Sunshine Canyon, owned and operated by Browning Ferris Industries Inc., has been among the most contentious issues in the San Fernando Valley.

This is a pity, because the environmental objections to it are more than offset by the environmental arguments in its favor.

Lobbying continues to be intense despite setbacks to opponents of the landfill by decisions of the Superior Court, the state Court of Appeal, the county planning department, state and county sanitation departments and the county supervisors.

The opposition stems mainly from the North Valley Coalition and Councilman Hal Bernson, who has generally been backed by his council colleagues.

The expansion would eradicate 200 acres of woodland and savanna. In a worst-case scenario, following other expansions, most of Sunshine Canyon would eventually become a landfill. Some 400 to 500 acres of wilderness would be lost.

However, the canyon is already degraded by the present closed landfill and extensive earth moving. Few people wish to use it for recreational purposes. The acres to be lost are a minor part of the small but growing Santa Clarita Woodlands Park, eventually proposed for 8,000 acres. If the smaller acreage is lost to the landfill, the rest of the park can go forward as public funds become available to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy to buy land.

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Sunshine Canyon does not have valley oak, an endangered species which exists on and near the crest of the range from near Mission Point to the west flanks of Oat Mountain, a distance of 5 1/2 miles. Rare vegetation dominated by flowering ash trees occurs in surrounding canyons but is absent from Sunshine Canyon. Its most striking trees are the big-cone Douglas fir, which also exists in East, Rice and Bee canyons. In addition, BFI is raising young firs for future planting.

Environmentalists such as myself are not eager supporters of this or any other landfill. Those who approve of this expansion do so because of the long list of mitigations offered or accepted by BFI and the hazards of ridgeline development that will occur if the landfill is rejected.

One important mitigating factor is BFI’s offer to donate more than 950 acres of wilderness land for parks in Weldon, East, Rice, Bee and Sunshine canyons. The offer includes:

* Forest near the top of Sunshine Canyon.

* Land surrounding Sunshine Canyon on the north, west and south.

* Sections of the dirt roads known as the motorways, which could be used for hiking, biking and horseback riding.

* A BFI-hired biologist to protect this land and $432,000 for the study of county significant ecological areas.

The land BFI is offering would become part of the Santa Clarita Woodlands Park. Its acquisition would thus preempt the attempt by Los Angeles, with Bernson’s blessings, to annex parts of the summit or ridgeline of the mountain range near Sunshine Canyon. Years ago, papers were filed with city and county planning departments and the Local Agency Formation Commission for this 13,000-acre acquisition, called the Oat Mountain Annexation.

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Bernson has been quoted as supporting low-density development on these mountains to protect the environment. The executive committee of the Los Angeles Chapter of the Sierra Club opposes the annexation. Those favoring it probably do not want a working landfill in Sunshine Canyon, which would reduce the chances of development of homes on nearby ridges.

The North Valley Coalition deserves a world of credit for much of its previous work. It proposed the Santa Clarita Woodlands Park--I was part of the effort, in the late 1980s. Its opposition to the landfill pressured BFI to make extravagant mitigation. But I must disagree with its intractable position on the landfill.

Dean Wise, manager of the landfill, also loves the forests and animal life and has been generally cooperative regarding preservation. The deal which we have been presented is one of the best of its type ever offered in the United States.

On Dec. 14, the Los Angeles City Council voted to refer the Sunshine Canyon case to the state Supreme Court. This means more delays, more public money, more destruction of plant life in the forest by cattle--and more time lost from recreation in a beautiful unburned natural area.