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Health & Fitness

Gregory Canyon Landfill Opponents Laud Passage of Bill

A bill that would stop the dump Gregory Canyon once and for all has cleared another key legislative hurdle.

SB 833, the bill from Sen. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego) that would protect Gregory Canyon and its surrounding sacred sites from a proposed dump, passed through the Assembly Natural Resources Committee this afternoon with five aye votes, one abstention and three absent committee members.

The overwhelming support further validates that sacred sites and natural drinking water need to be protected and that Gregory Canyon is the worst place for a landfill.

“Today is a critical day in the continued fight to stop the dump in Gregory Canyon,” said Robert Smith, Chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians. “We are glad that the committee recognized the importance of preserving sacred sites and protecting drinking water. We hope CalRecycle will show the same sound judgment in its consideration of the solid waste disposal permit application at the public information meeting tonight.”

SB 833 would prevent a landfill from being built within 1,000 feet of one of San Diego County’s most valuable water resources and from being built within 1,000 feet of sites listed in the California Native American Heritage Commission Sacred Lands Inventory.

CalRecycle is holding a public information meeting tonight in Fallbrook to hear feedback as it considers the solid waste disposal permit application for the project. The permit has already been approved by the San Diego County Dept. of Environmental Health’s Local Enforcement Agency and this is the final step before the permit is approved.

In her testimony at today’s hearing with the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, Pala’s Tribal Historic Preservation Officer Shasta Gaughen made it clear to legislators that this was the wrong location for a landfill and that the state needed to step in to stop it.

“Even with the mandate of consultation by local agencies and as part of the CEQA process, all that is required is that tribes be contacted; there is absolutely no real protection in the law for Native American sacred sites,” testified Gaughen. “Even though the EIR for the Gregory Canyon landfill concluded that there would be significant and unmitigable impacts to Luiseno culture and history, that was not enough to protect sacred Chokla and Medicine Rock… When local regulations do not afford enough protection, the state has a duty to step in.”
 
With existing landfills providing adequate capacity for years to come, a decline in county waste production, and an increase in recycling, the proposed Gregory Canyon Landfill is an unnecessary and irresponsible proposition for San Diego County.

The bill will now move to the Assembly Appropriations Committee with its hearing date yet to be set. The Senate Appropriations Committee passed SB 833 on a 8-0 vote last month after finding the bill would have minimal fiscal impact for the state.

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