COUNTYWIDE : Flynn Says Operator of Dump Is Stalling

Ventura County Supervisor John K. Flynn on Wednesday accused the operator of Bailard Landfill of “delay tactics” and of maneuvering “completely in secret” against the public’s wishes in order to avoid closure of the landfill.

His comments were the latest salvo in the feud between Flynn and the Ventura County Regional Sanitation District, which operates the landfill, over how soon Bailard should be closed.

Flynn wants the landfill, located just outside Oxnard, to shut down when its operation permit expires in December, 1993. The sanitation district, made up by elected officials from cities, wants to extend that permit until 1995.

The County Board of Supervisors is expected to vote on the issues in early 1993 after environmental studies on the landfill extension are completed.

Flynn, whose district includes Oxnard, was joined by a handful of community leaders and Oxnard City Councilmen Manuel Lopez and Michael Plisky at a news conference across the street from the landfill.

All three officials argued that Oxnard has done more than its share by allowing the Bailard Landfill and its two predecessors to be built near the city. They also said that extending Bailard was a risk to the city’s water supply because the landfill sits on top of one of Oxnard’s main aquifers.

“We in the Oxnard area are very concerned about this landfill at the major entrance way to our city,” Flynn said, adding that the permit extension was the first step in the district’s “secret agenda to keep Bailard open until the year 2000.”

The sanitation district’s general manager, Clint Whitney, denied the charges and said the landfill extension was necessary to avoid a garbage crisis in the county, since no new landfill will be ready to operate in two years.

The landfill extension was endorsed on a 3-2 vote by the Oxnard City Council earlier this year, with Lopez and Plisky voting against it. Whitney said he expected the Board of Supervisors to vote for the extension.

“Frankly, I’m dismayed that Flynn would hold a press conference to fight the extension. It just shows how out of touch he is,” Whitney said.