Legislative Updates

Big News on the Potrero Hills Landfill lawsuit - Click here for the excerpted ruling

Potrero Hills Landfill 

Lawsuit Stalls Potrero Hills Expansion! 

By David Tam

On the morning of Tuesday February 27, Fairfield environmental attorney Amber Vierling made my day by telling me “We won.”  She told the Daily Republic, “We’re gratified the court recognized the value of Suisun Marsh.  The judge is on really solid legal ground with his findings.” 

The lawsuit, based on the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the Suisun Marsh Preservation Act, was filed October 14, 2005, on behalf of plaintiffs June Guidotti (Protect the Marsh), Northern California Recycling Association, David Tam, and Arthur Boone.  Arguments were heard in October 20, 2006. with additional briefs filed in November and December. 

The issue was whether the Potrero Hills Landfill (PHLF) would be permitted, over 35 years, to expand 260 acres further into the protected Suisun Marsh.  The marsh is the West Coast’s largest habitat for migratory birds and home to two endangered species, the California Golden Eagle and the Delta smelt. 

In his 12-page ruling in our favor, Solano County Judge Paul Beeman said that Solano County’s Environmental Impact Report (EIR) approving the expansion inadequately addressed issues of water, air, and alternative sites.  He gave the County a pass on required mitigations for on-site recycling, wildlife habitat, creek destruction, and litter. 

PHLF and Solano County have until about April 27 to file an appeal, which Ms. Vierling thinks unlikely. 

PHLF spokeswoman Sue Vacarro told the Contra Costa Times, “These are three areas we believe we can fix.  We’re actually pleased with the court’s ruling.” 

“It’s a setback [for PHLF], but not a disaster,” I told the Times.  Rewriting portions of the invalidated EIR and sending them back through the Solano County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors could be completed in less than a year. 

Until sometime about five years from now, an average of 3,400 tons daily of unrecycled solid waste from 13 Northern California counties will continue to flow unimpeded 160 hours per week into PHLF (24 hours daily except from  12:00 AM to 4:00 AM on Saturdays and Sundays).  This is a WalMart of landfills.  That tonnage figure is based on Solano County’s recent modification of the existing permit, originally issued in 1996, to allow increased hours and tonnage.  In 2005 PHLF accepted about 900,000 tons (about 2,500 tons daily) at tipping fees much lower than central and southern Bay Area landfills, where higher fees generate revenues for recycling programs. 

In the EIR the judge has now ruled against, the analyzed alternatives to expanding this landfill were limited to two: No Project; and Reduced Project, filling 190 feet higher on the existing landfill’s 320-acre footprint.  In a conscientiously rewritten EIR, it won’t be easy to evade analysis of environmentally superior alternatives. We will press Solano County to require serious consideration of a new site outside the Suisun Marsh.  Solano County has underused capacity for wastes generated in the county – only 18% of the total that PHLF receives – at Norcal’s Hay Road Landfill about eleven miles northeast of Fairfield.  Garbage from western and central Contra Costa County bypasses Allied Waste’s Keller Canyon Landfill southwest of Pittsburg. 

As a result of this ruling, permit proceedings before the Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District will be on hold at least until PHLF and Solano County decide whether to appeal Judge Beeman’s decision. 

WHAT YOU CAN DO:  Meanwhile, the recycling community should continue to help the plaintiffs – NCRA, Arthur Boone, June Guidotti (Protect the Marsh), and David Tam– pay the fees of our very dedicated attorneys, Amber Vierling and Dana Dean.  We have already raised substantial amounts, but much more is needed, and our attorneys have worked without being fully paid.  Contributions for the lawsuit and for the appeal to BCDC of a Marsh Development Permit should be sent to SPRAWLDEF, c/o Norman La Force, Treasurer, 802 Balra Drive, El Cerrito CA 94530.  They are tax-deductible; the employer identification number for tax-deductibility is 20-2501877. 

We are confident we will prevail in opposing this landfill’s expansion, eventually realizingthe goal of Zero Waste In Suisun Marsh. 

Excerpts of the judge’s ruling can be found here.