Editorial: Last-ditch attempt to block landfill by sacred site

Friday, April 29, 2011  

"A last-ditch attempt to kill the Gregory Canyon landfill in North County is before the Legislature in the form of a poorly crafted bill being carried for moneyed special interests.

Senate Bill 833 by Sen. Juan Vargas, D-San Diego, would prohibit a landfill within 1,000 feet of the San Luis River or contributing aquifer, or within a site that is considered sacred or of cultural importance by an Indian tribe. The Pala Band of Mission Indians, which operates a casino nearby, opposes the landfill.

This is bad legislation. The state has no business getting involved in such a local or regional issue.

This bill would trump the will of the voters who overwhelmingly approved the landfill twice.

It would negate almost 20 years of effort to establish a much-needed landfill for North County, which lacks a facility of its own and must truck 850,000 tons of material a year as far away as Arizona."

Get the Story:
Editorial: Sen. Vargas attempts a landfill end run (The San Diego Union-Tribune 4/29)

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