October 27, 2011 – Republic Posts Strong Q3 on Pricing and Volume Growth (Waste Business Journal)
https://www.wastebusinessjournal.com/news/wbj20111101B.htm
Republic Services, Inc. Reports Third Quarter Earnings of $0.52 Per Share
– Repurchased more than 4% of Company stock during the past twelve months
– Reaffirms EPS and free cash flow guidance
Republic’s net income for the three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 includes a number of charges and other expenses that impacted its results. A detail of these charges and other expenses is contained in the Reconciliation of Certain Non-GAAP Measures section of this document. Excluding these items, net income for the three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010 would have been $198.5 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, and $172.8 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, respectively. Continue reading
Best Buy Eliminates E-waste Collection Fee
Nov. 11 — Best Buy Co. Inc. announced that it has eliminated the $10 recycling fee for electronic items collected through its nationwide in-store recycling program.
Consumers can now drop off items with screens up to 32 inches for tube televisions and 60 inches for flat-panel televisions, free of charge. In addition to televisions, the in-store recycling program includes computer monitors, DVD players, audio and video cables, cell phones and other electronics.
The company collected 83 million pounds of electronics in 2010 and wants to collect more than 1 billion pounds of electronics by the end of 2014.
Best Buy said it only works with certified third-party electronics recyclers, which must carry either the R2 or eStewards certification. For more information on the company’s recycling program, visit Best Buy online.
Contact Waste & Recycling News reporter Jeremy Carroll at jcarroll@crain.com or 313-446-6780.
Bureau of Sanitation, Department of Public Works – City of Los Angeles
The Bureau of Sanitation offers many services/opportunities under the heading Recycling on the left hand side of the page of their website which can be found at:
https://www.lacitysan.org/solid_resources/recycling/index.htm
Public Works – County of Los Angeles
Public Works offers e-waste round ups which can be found at:
SCL-LEA Meeting, November 1, 2011 at 3:30 p.m. Downtown
MEETING NOTICE
SUNSHINE CANYON LANDFILL LOCAL ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
November 1, 2011
3:30 PM
ROOM 1070 (TENTH FLOOR), LOS ANGELES CITY HALL
200 NORTH SPRING STREET LOS ANGELES, CA 90012
Note – Board Member Bambard may be participating by teleconference from a remote location. Board Member Bambard’s participation will not count towards a quorum. This meeting is noticed and publicly accessible at the location below:
REMOTE MEETING LOCATION
AECOM, Jordan
Shabab Al Ordon Club Building, First Floor
Balbaak Street No. 4
Amman 11814, Jordan
LOCATION OF THE SUBJECT PROPERTY: The Sunshine Canyon Landfill is located at 14747 San Fernando Road in the Granada Hills area of the City of Los Angeles and an area of unincorporated Los Angeles County.
________________________________________________________________
Note: Additional information concerning this matter may be obtained by telephoning Mr. David Thompson at (213) 252-3348. Copies of the draft Sunshine Canyon Landfill Local Enforcement Agency Designation Information Package including the SCL-LEA Enforcement Program Plan and SCL-LEA Joint Powers Authority Agreement are available on the Sunshine Canyon Landfill Local Enforcement Agency website at: https://scllea.org
Subject
- Call to Order/Welcome
- Approval of the minutes from the June 2, 2011 Board meeting
- Program Manager’s report
- Financial Manager’s report
- Report and recommendations for Board action on the status of the E. Tseng and Associates consulting contract and the SCL LEA Evergreen Fund.
- Report and recommendations for Board action of a revised Joint Powers Authority Agreement between the City of Los Angeles and the County Los Angeles for the Sunshine Canyon Landfill Local Enforcement Agency.
- Report and recommendations for Board action regarding the reimbursement billing methodology for the SCL LEA for staff costs including overtime.
- Verbal report on nuisance odor activities of the SCL LEA and other agencies and recommendation for general support of SCAQMD Stipulated Petition to Amend Order for Abatement.
- Consideration of recommendations for Board action including adoption of a SCL LEA Conflict of Interest Program, supporting policies and designation of parties in compliance with the California Fair Political Practices Act.
- Comments from the public
- Close of meeting/adjourn
Speaker cards will be available at the meeting. Each person wishing to address the Board of Directors is asked to complete the form and submit to the clerk at the beginning of the meeting. Speakers will be given three minutes each.
August 30, 2011 – Sunshine Canyon gets odor warning (Daily News)
https://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18792888
A state agency has filed a notice of intent to cite the operators of Sunshine Canyon Landfill for violating the minimum standard for odor control.
The California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery issued the notice late last week after reviewing Sunshine Canyon inspection reports for June and July.
Inspections were conducted by a local enforcement agency composed of city and county officials, who did not return telephone calls Tuesday.
The CalRecycle notice warns Republic Services, operators of Sunshine Canyon, to correct the issue within 90 days to avoid the citation.
Republic spokeswoman Peg Mulloy said the odor problem could be coming from the gas-extraction system, which collects landfill gas and burns it off to prevent it from being released into the air.
“We hired an outside firm to repair or replace gas wells,” Mulloy said. “If we didn’t do this project, there would be deterioration. We expect that to be done in October.”
The number of complaints about foul smells from the landfill jumped more than tenfold in the last few years, according to state officials.
More than 600 complaints were registered in 2010, compared to fewer than 50 in 2008.
Sunshine Canyon Landfill is one of the nation’s largest integrated waste management facilities, taking in 9,500 tons of trash daily. It is actually two adjacent landfills – one on city land, one in county jurisdiction – that merged operations in 2009.
“We understand it’s a problem and we don’t want it to be,” Mulloy said of the odor issues. “We are looking at every possible cause and then we are taking every possible action to reduce and eliminate the odors.”
Mulloy said the company discontinued taking waste from one customer that was considered a potential source of the odor. She also said the city/county permit required Sunshine Canyon to cover one of the side slopes with green waste, which may also have caused the odor.
“We stopped that practice because of the odors generated,” Mulloy said.
Meanwhile, a Sunshine Canyon Landfill-Community Advisory Committee meeting will be held from 3 to 5 p.m. Thursday at the Knollwood Country Club, 12024 Balboa Boulevard, Granada Hills. The meeting will include officials from Sunshine, who will discuss how the odors are being mitigated.
May 5, 2011 – Sylmar landfill doesn’t pass smell test (Daily News)
https://www.dailynews.com/news/ci_18004281
ODOR: Complaints by residents against Sunshine Canyon have increased tenfold in two years.
(South Coast Air Quality Management)
SYLMAR – A pungent odor emanating from the Sunshine Canyon landfill over the last two years has left nearby residents holding their noses and local officials scratching their heads.
The number of complaints about foul smells from the landfill wafting over neighborhoods and schools has jumped more than tenfold in the last two years, according to state officials. More than 600 complaints were registered in 2010, compared to less than 50 in 2008.
This year since Jan. 1 alone, at least 676 complaints have been filed with the South Coast Air Quality Management District.
“How much is enough for this community?” said a frustrated Wayde Hunter, president of North Valley Coalition, a nonprofit organization which was formed more than 20 years ago.
“There’s just been an exponential increase in days when there is an odor,” he said. “I’m frantic, I just don’t know what to do.”
But the landfill’s operators and local environmental officials have yet to discover the source of the stench.
Sunshine Canyon Landfill, which takes in 9,500 tons of trash each day, is run by Republic Services, one of the largest integrated waste management companies in the United States.
“We know there is an odor issue, and that is unacceptable to us,” said Peg Mulloy, spokeswoman for Republic. “Right now, we don’t know where (the odor is) coming from. We’re focusing all our efforts on trying to find the problem.”
Mulloy said new general manager David Cieply has been hired as part of the company’s effort to bring in new people to help solve the problem at the landfill.
“The key is, we admit that there are odors and we know there is a problem,” she said. “We know people are unhappy.”
The AQMD has issued 15 violations against operators of the landfill so far this year, compared to four for the same time period in 2010.
The landfill, at 14747 San Fernando Rd., in Sylmar is about two miles north of Van Gogh Elementary School in Granada Hills, where children, parents, and teachers complain they smell a foul odor each morning until about 10 a.m.
“It usually dissipates by recess,” said Gale Gundersen, who called in a complaint to the AQMD on Thursday.
She said the increase in odors began last year.
“It’s a strong garbage smell,” she said.
The AQMD violation notices do not come with fines, but the agency in January ordered the landfill to fix the problem, said Sam Atwood, a spokesman for the air-quality regulating agency.
In very rare circumstances, a landfill is ordered to cease operations, Atwood said. “We’ve received hundreds of complaints and that shows there is a problem,” Atwood said.
The Los Angeles Unified School district is documenting the problem as well. So far, the district has no accounts of students who have been sickened or hospitalized because of the odor, said John Sterritt, director of environmental health and safety for LAUSD.
“The kids are overcome by the odor, and we think that’s a really big problem,” said Bill Piazza, an environmental assessment coordinator for LAUSD.
Along with the AQMD, Los Angeles city and county officials last month formed a 90-day action plan. Landfill operators are supposed to reduce the number of trucks delivering trash during peak hours, use soil, instead of tarps, to cover the trash at the end of the day, and install several DustBoss odor control units in areas where trash is deposited.
Landfill operators also must conduct odor patrols from 6 to 10 a.m. and 6 to 10 p.m. Mondays through Saturdays.
The city and county formed a joint enforcement team in 2008 to supervise Sunshine Canyon. Sunshine is actually two side-by-side landfills – one on city land, one in county jurisdiction – that merged operations in 2009.
“We’re very concerned about it,” said Tony Bell, spokesman for Los Angeles County Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich, whose district includes the landfill. He said the county Department of Public Works has been in talks with Republic to make sure the 90-day plan of action is implemented.
While no cause is known for sure, city and county officials speculate the odor could be caused by types and quantities of trash received, methods of handling the trash, and/or a faulty landfill gas collection system among other factors.
City Councilman Greig Smith said officials are collecting all the notices of violation as well as other information, in case legal action against the operators of the landfill becomes necessary.
“We can order them to close the doors which is in our purview,” Smith said. “The onus is on their backs to perform. It’s taken so ridiculously long.”
August 25, 2008 – Significant Topographic Changes in the United States (USGS)
https://topochange.cr.usgs.gov/landfills.php
Topographic change due to landfill operations has been observed based on some of the features delineated by the elevation differencing and thresholding process. The resulting altered landforms from landfills differ from other anthropogenic activities in that much of the deposited material is not rock and soil that had been previously excavated but man-made material that has been transported to the deposition site.
The figure below shows the Sunshine Canyon landfill in Sylmar, California, an example of topographic change due to landfill operations. The operation and expansion of this landfill continues to be a controversial topic in the local area. The close proximity of the landfill site to a major transportation artery is a reminder that visual impacts of human geomorphic activities can be significant.
June 30, 2008 – Valley landfill oversight dispute comes to a head (Los Angeles Times)
The state will monitor Sunshine Canyon until a local body is set up.
Adding another wrinkle to a decades-old controversy over a giant dump in the north San Fernando Valley, the state has approved a request by the operator of Sunshine Canyon Landfill to step in and oversee enforcement of waste laws at the facility until a city-county joint agency is approved.
Sunshine Canyon is actually two landfills roughly a quarter of a mile apart, which puts them in different jurisdictions: one in the city of Los Angeles, the other in unincorporated county territory.
For The Record
Sunshine Canyon: An article in the June 30 California section about the Sunshine Canyon Landfill said the dump sits atop an underground reservoir that holds water for 19 million people. The San Fernando Groundwater Basin is one mile south of the dump, and only non-potable water lies under the dump. Also, the article stated that Greg Loughnane, a spokesman for Browning-Ferris Industries, said company officials wanted to combine the two dumps at the site into one because a single dump would be less expensive to operate. In fact, Loughnane said the sole reason for seeking to merge the two was concern they would run out of room for garbage.