LAKE VIEW TERRACE : Landfill Savings Estimates Faulted

Community members opposed to Lopez Canyon Landfill this week attacked projections that Los Angeles taxpayers could save $56 million if the dump is allowed to stay open until 2001 instead of shutting down as scheduled next February.

On Monday, the Bureau of Sanitation announced the savings, saying that more money would be spent in the long term if Los Angeles diverted its trash to private landfills after Lopez Canyon’s operating permit expires next year.

Although a hefty savings, the $56 million is considerably less than the $72 million city officials said could be saved in a 1994 report. That figure was criticized so severely that the city hired a private accounting firm to recalculate potential savings by comparing operation costs at Lopez Canyon with fees charged by private dumps.

During a meeting Thursday night, however, residents who had protested a 1991 extension called the estimates “fictitious.” Some complained that the private landfill bids were not given adequate review by the city.

Barbara Fine, vice chairwoman of the Solid Waste Citizens Advisory Group, said that the audit used government accounting methods but private landfill owners used “private-sector” accounting in their bids. As a result, she said, the bureau’s cost comparison was invalid.

“It’s apples and oranges,” Fine said.

Meanwhile, Kagel Canyon Civic Assn. President Rob Zapple noted that sanitation officials had not considered such factors as transportation costs that could be eliminated if Lopez Canyon is closed.

About 650 trucks enter and exit the landfill every day, Zapple said. If the landfill were closed, the city could save gas and maintenance fees.

Drew Sones, assistant director of the Bureau of Sanitation, agreed that those factors were not considered, but dismissed them as “insignificant.”

“We’ll go back and look at those potential savings,” Sones said, “but I would be surprised if they were anywhere over $1 million.”

The Board of Public Works is scheduled to discuss the audit and other issues associated with the landfill on Monday.