Residents Discard Paints, Cleansers, Oil in All-Day Roundup of Toxic Wastes

More than 1,400 motorists crowded into a Sun Valley lot Saturday to unload household hazardous wastes at a city-sponsored roundup held as a condition for the expansion of Lopez Canyon Landfill.

Residents from Lake View Terrace to West Los Angeles--their cars and trucks loaded with old paint cans, motor oil, pesticides and cleaners--snaked in and out of the city-owned lot for six hours. A crew of more than 150 hazardous waste specialists sorted and packed the materials for disposal or recycling.

About 150 tons of hazardous material was collected.

In addition to giving residents an opportunity to legally discard the toxic materials, the roundup was held to comply with an order from the Los Angeles City Council and the South Coast Air Quality Management District to limit the amount of toxic and hazardous waste dumped into the Lopez Canyon Landfill in the east San Fernando Valley.

Almost a quarter of the city’s garbage is dumped each day at the landfill, which abuts Lake View Terrace.

In approving the expansion of the landfill on Jan. 30, the council ordered the city’s Bureau of Sanitation, which operates the landfill, to operate a five-year, $12.5-million program to keep hazardous household wastes out of Lopez Canyon.

State laws prohibit the dumping of toxic material in landfills such as Lopez Canyon, which accepts only household garbage. But critics have said the city household hazardous waste roundups are offered infrequently, prompting many residents to surreptitiously throw out their toxic materials in the weekly trash.

Several of those who brought toxic and hazardous wastes to the roundup were relieved to get rid of the materials legally. Some said old paint cans and motor oil containers had been sitting around for years in garages and sheds.

“I’m just glad there’s finally a way for me to get rid of this stuff,” said Richard Yanez of Glendale, a film art director who drove his van to the roundup. “I’ve had about 10 gallons worth of old motor oil sitting in the garage for five years.”

Mike Bayne, 20, of Los Angeles, said: “My mother has really been hassling me to get rid of the old paint cans and motor oil. I hope now she’s happy.”

The wastes collected Saturday will be transported to Greenfield Environmental, a San Diego-based waste management firm, for disposal and recycling.