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Will Cantil be L.A.’s dumping ground?
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Posted by editor Sat Apr 8, 2006 09:34:42 PDT
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2 responses 0 comments East Kern County leaders held a press conference in Cantil on April 3, in opposition to a proposed 3,100-acre landfill  site for waste trucked in from Los Angeles.

Area residents gathered at the wind-swept site on Neuralia Road, just north of California City, to hear reasons why a one billion, cubic-yard landfill/energy park would be detrimental to the desert eco-system, the aerospace industry and residents, alike. 

“What this Missouri-based trash dumping company [Herzog Environmental, Inc.] is proposing, is threatening the safety of test pilots and the mission of the bases; Edwards Air Force Base, China Lake Naval Weapons Center and the Mojave Spaceport,” said former State Senator and Assemblyman Phil Wyman.
Kern County 2nd District Supervisor Don Maben, who has worked for regulation to protect the bases from encroachment, agreed.

“If this initiative passes, it will allow the interference of night-flight testing from Edwards and China Lake,” Maben said. “It’s a naturally dark area and lights from a 24-hour plant, plus trucks every two minutes, would certainly have an effect on night vision flying.”

Mojave Space Port Manager Stewart Witt spoke of the the project’s lack of due process and the need for Los Angeles to be responsible for its own waste products.
Attorney Brandon Martin, spokesman and manager for the landfill project (known as the High Desert Green Energy Park), said he is disappointed by reactions from local politicians regarding  military issues surrounding the project.

“The military missions are very important to the people of East Kern, all of Kern County and the nation,” he said. “We will do all we can to protect those missions and we are dealing directly with base officials.”

The selected site is within an existing flood zone, which Wyman believes is another concern for residents.

“Here are the problems with this L.A. dump proposal. The potential of spreading hazardous waste and potential illness to the residents of East Kern County when the proposed dump site floods,” he said.

According to Martin, the project will include a multiple technology renewable energy facility, made up of solar and wind energy as well as biomass conversion of agricultural crops and construction debris.

“The important thing for people to know is that biomass is not sludge or human waste,” Martin said. “What is disposed of would be made up of household and municipal solid waste; no medical waste or asbestos.”

He added that Kern County stands to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue over the life span of the project, plus create jobs as well as a charitable benefits trust.

However, Mayor Larry Adams of California City countered the company’s beneficial claims, saying, “This is about collecting somebody else’s trash and we don’t want it.”
Other grievances listed by Wyman include the potential transport of 18,000 tons of trash per day from L.A, carried by up to 60 trucks per hour traveling through eastern Kern County over the proposed 44-year life span of the plant. 

In addition, Cantil residents Glen and Venita Harshman fear a potential impact on the habitats of already endangered species, including the desert tortoise, condors and mountain lions in the desert area.

“This is an L.A. problem, not a Kern problem,” Glen said.

In February, State Senator Dean Florez (D-Shafter), also an opponent of the landfill project, presented two ballot measures designed to stop proponents from obtaining voter support before environmental approvals are established. He urges Kern County voters not to sign the petitions.

According to Florez’ Chief of Staff Al Wagner, the petitions have mainly been accessible to Bakersfield residents who live far from the East Kern dump site.

“We haven’t heard of any petitions so far in the outlying areas of Kern County,” he said.

Some 15,000 signatures are needed to qualify the measure for the ballot in November.

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