California State Assembly Vote Will Kill Jobs

Sacramento, CA – Gregory Canyon Landfill spokesperson Nancy Chase issued the following statement Wednesday regarding the California State Assembly’s passage of SB 833 by Sen. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego).

“California State lawmakers publicly claim to support job creation and routinely issue statements touting the need for new jobs --yet they continue to cast disturbing votes that do just the opposite.

Today the Assembly passed another job killing measure, SB 833 by Sen. Juan Vargas, (D-San Diego), which attempts to block a much needed construction project that would bring hundreds of high paying jobs to San Diego County.  

The Assembly’s passage of SB 833 sends an alarming message to more than two-million unemployed Californians who are counting on lawmakers to help create jobs, not destroy them. Today’s vote shows that even in this fragile economy, the California State Assembly considers big money special interests more important than struggling working families.

SB 833 is now on its way to Governor Brown’s desk. We hope he will protect California jobs and veto this unnecessary special interest legislation.”  

--Nancy Chase, Gregory Canyon Landfill spokesperson

Gregory Canyon will be one of the most environmentally protected landfills in the country, establishing a new era for technologically advanced waste management facilities.  After nearly 20 years of development, the project has received two overwhelming public votes of support in two separate countywide elections. It has received permit approval from the San Diego County Department of Environmental Health and CalRecycle.

Legislation similar to SB 833 was vetoed by Governor Gray Davis in 2000. Governor Davis vetoed AB 2752,

saying he was “loath to overturn a vote of the electorate and the decision of two courts of law.” 

Read his full message here.

The Gregory Canyon Landfill is located along SR76, 3 ½ miles east of Interstate 15.  The state-of-the-art project will incorporate an unprecedented double-liner system with five containment layers, which will ensure protection of groundwater and surface water.  The 1,770-acre project also includes at least 1,461 acres of permanently preserved habitat, an on-site habitat creation and enhancement area of 212 acres, and about 350 acres of off-site permanently preserved habitat.

North San Diego County has not had a landfill since the closure of the San Marcos Landfill in the late 1990’s.  A local site serving north San Diego County is expected to reduce traffic impacts throughout the County by up to one million vehicle miles each year.  In addition to economic savings to consumers through increased competition and lower transportation costs, the project will help reduce traffic congestion and energy consumption.

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San Diego County Department of Environmental Health issues Solid Waste Facility Permit to Gregory Canyon Landfill

View the Decision Document here: Solid Waste Facility Permit

Oceanside City Councilmember Gary Felien: Oceanside stands against special interest

North County Times Forum

By: Oceanside City Councilmember Gary Felien

August 2, 2011

At our last meeting, three members of the Oceanside City Council took a stand against powerful special interests and stood up to protect the will of the people.

On July 6, the Oceanside City Council voted 3-2 to oppose SB 833 by Sen. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego), taking an official stand against unnecessary and dangerous legislation that attempts to overrule the will of Oceanside and San Diego County voters.

SB 833 is a blatant attempt by Sacramento politicians to intrude in local affairs, by stepping in at the last minute to block an approved landfill project that Oceanside and San Diego County voters supported overwhelmingly at the polls in two separate landslide elections.

SB 833 targets the Gregory Canyon Landfill, which is one of the most exhaustively studied and thoroughly researched projects of its kind. After 17 years of detailed planning and scientific review, this state-of-the-art facility has received multiple permits from some of the strictest environmental regulators in the nation. After studying the facts, scientific experts determined that Gregory Canyon presents no threat to local waterways or the underground aquifer and could in fact set new national standards when it becomes one of the most environmentally protected landfills in the country.

The facts, science and data support Gregory Canyon, which is why project opponents are now circumventing the legal approval process and resorting to dirty politics to try to block it.

SB 833 is a dangerous, job-killing bill that sets a chilling precedent. It sends a message to businesses across the country that in California, companies are punished for playing by the rules and project approval depends on pay-to-play politicians.

The Gregory Canyon Landfill should be approved or denied based on its merits, not special-interest politics. As local elected officials, we shouldn't allow out-of-town politicians to bully local voters, community leaders and elected representatives who have overwhelmingly supported this project on multiple occasions.

I'm proud to be part of a City Council that took a stand against special-interest politics and stood up for what is right. I'm now hoping the state Legislature will do the same.

 Gary Felien is a member of the Oceanside City Council.

http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/article_5c908829-a5c2-5bee-9317-7ac01f3ddd20.html#ixzz1TvtejUbU

Oceanside City Council Adopts Resolution Opposing SB 833

Resolution describes SB 833 (Vargas) as "classic pay to play legislation"

View it here

Gregory Canyon Landfill wins state approval

Long way still to go before construction might start

By J. Harry Jones, San Diego Union Tribune
July 15, 2011

NORTH COUNTY — A state agency that oversees trash dumps has agreed with San Diego County that a critical permit needed to build the Gregory Canyon landfill in rural North County should be issued.

The decision, released Friday afternoon by CalRecycle, represents the culmination of more than a decade of effort by Gregory Canyon Ltd., the private developer of the project that has invested nearly 20 years and more than $60 million into the plans. The landfill would be located east of Interstate 15 just south of state Route 76 near the San Luis Rey River and Pala.

The state agency agreed with an earlier decision by the county’s Department of Environmental Health that the benefits of the landfill outweigh the problems it could create.

However, as has been true throughout the long battle to get the landfill built, the issuance of the permit does not mean the dump will be constructed any time soon.

Opponents will appeal the solid waste facilities permit, county officials have been told, and therefore it will not be issued until after a public hearing has been held sometime in the next three months. Plus the developer still needs to obtain four other independent permits from various local, state and federal agencies before construction can begin.

Complicating matters further, legislation in Sacramento that could quash the landfill plans is still pending. Should Senate Bill 833, sponsored by Sen. Juan Vargas, be approved and signed by the governor later this year, it would stop the project in its tracks. That would most likely then lead to a lawsuit by Gregory Canyon Ltd., which has insisted it will not give up because it has too much time and money invested.

“We’re pleased with the latest approval from CalRecycle in one of the most scrutinized projects in the history of the state. This will allow us to move forward to build the most environmentally safe landfill in the United States,” said Gregory Canyon Ltd. Spokeswoman Nancy Chase.

CalRecycle Issues Staff Recommendation Regarding Gregory Canyon Solid Waste Facility Permit

CalRecycle staff recommends that the Acting Director consider the FEIR and RFEIR and other environmental documents, adopt the LEA’s findings respecting the project’s significant impacts as the Department’s own, adopt the LEA’s Statement of Overriding Considerations as the Department’s own and concur in the proposed solid waste facilities permit. 

Click to read the full report: CalRecycle Staff Report

Gregory Canyon Landfill challenge dismissed

San Diego Union Tribune

June 22, 2011

PALA — A state agency has dismissed a challenge made by opponents of the long-sought Gregory Canyon landfill  in rural North County, saying that a recent decision to recommend the issuance of a Solid Waste Permit by San Diego County was based on a sound and legally complete application.

That recommendation must still be approved by Cal Recycle, the state agency that oversees landfill development.

Just last week a lawsuit was filed by opponents of the landfill challenging the county’s decision, a move that almost guarantees another delay of the project, which has been in development for nearly two decades.

The landfill would be built about three miles east of Interstate 15 just south of state Route 76 in a canyon west of Gregory Mountain. Several environmental groups concerned about the effect a trash dump might have on the San Luis Rey River, and the Pala Indians, whose reservation lies just to the east, have been fighting the plans since the 1990s.

The challenge to the county’s approval of the permit came from the Pala Indians who maintain the landfill would be built near sacred land.

To complicate matters further, a bill in Sacramento that would prohibit building landfills near a river or near sacred Indian sites is working its way through the Legislature this summer. If it passes and is signed by the governor, it to would likely become the subject of a lawsuit by Gregory Canyon Ltd., the would-be developers who have spent more than $60 million on the project already.

The developers have said they are committed to the project and have worked too hard to ever give up.

Even with the issuance of a Solid Waste Permit, several other key permits are still needed before construction could begin.

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/jun/22/gregory-canyon-landfill-challenge-dismissed/