Hearings Planned on Bill Barring Elsmere Land Swap

SANTA CLARITA — A congressional subcommittee will hold hearings in Washington next week on a bill that would prohibit the transfer of U.S. Forest Service land in Elsmere Canyon for use as a landfill.

A swap of Forest Service land for private holdings has been a key component of BKK Corp.’s plan to develop a 190-million-ton landfill in the scenic, tree-lined canyon just east of the city of Santa Clarita.

Part of the proposed 720-acre landfill would be on federal land in the Angeles National Forest, in exchange for which BKK has offered to buy private land of comparable value and donate it to the Forest Service.

Forest Service officials already opposed the deal. The bill, introduced in February by Rep. Howard P. (Buck) McKeon (R-Santa Clarita), would prevent them from changing their minds.

The bill was introduced long before a deal was announced Wednesday between BKK and Browning-Ferris Industries, a giant waste disposal firm, which may have eased pressure to develop the Elsmere dump.

Under terms of the deal, BFI will acquire BKK’s interest in the Elsmere project, and both firms will focus their lobbying clout on reopening BFI’s mothballed Sunshine Canyon Landfill north of Granada Hills.

The renewed availability of Sunshine Canyon to receive the city’s trash would reduce pressure to open a new dump in Elsmere Canyon.

Ron Gastelum, chief operating officer for BKK, said landfill company executives expect to meet with officials of the Forest Service and Los Angeles County to discuss the future of the Elsmere project.

Hearings on the McKeon bill were scheduled before Wednesday’s announcement of the Elsmere deal.

“We believe forest land should be kept in trust for the American people,” said Armando E. Azarloza, a spokesman for McKeon. “It should be preserved in its natural state and not used as a landfill.”

Those scheduled to testify on the bill before the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Lands include Santa Clarita City Councilman George Pederson; Marsha McLean, president of the Santa Clarita Valley Canyons Preservation Committee, and Michael Murphy, a political affairs officer for the city.

“We’re going to be monitoring the hearing,” said Arnie Berghoff, the director of governmental affairs for BFI. “BKK will be presenting a prepared statement.”