Great news regarding the Gregory Canyon Landfill. EPA is requiring a full review. Please see a Press Release from County Supervisor Pam Slater Price, a friend of the environment.
EPA Finds Gregory Canyon Needs Clean Water Act Permit
For Immediate Release
Contact: Erica Holloway
(619) 531-5857
SAN DIEGO - The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has determined that construction of the proposed 300-acre Gregory Canyon landfill along the San Luis Rey River in northern San Diego County requires full review under federal environmental laws prior to the issuance of a permit by the Army Corps of Engineers.
According to the EPA, a review must include both an individual permit process under Section 404 of the federal Clean Water Act and an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The EIS must address the significant impacts of the project on environmental and cultural resources as well as potential alternatives to the project.
Developers of the proposed landfill have argued to the Army Corps that neither an EIS nor an individual permit under Section 404 is necessary.
In a December 28, 2009 letter to the Army Corps of Engineers from the Director of EPA Region IX’s Water Division, Alexis Strauss (attached), agreed with the Corps’ finding that the main stream in Gregory Canyon is a “water of the United States” regulated under the Clean Water Act.
The EPA also stated that the Corps had inadequate information to conclude that other smaller watercourses on the site should not be regulated, and recommended further hydrological and ecological investigation of the canyon.
San Diego County Supervisor Pam Slater-Price applauded the decision by the Corps and EPA.
“The determinations of the EPA and the Corps confirm what opponents of the proposed landfill have said all along: a landfill cannot be constructed in Gregory Canyon without a permit under the Clean Water Act,” Slater-Price said. “This requires a comprehensive look at both impacts and alternatives to the site in the preparation of a federal Environmental Impact Statement. The EPA correctly noted that the proposed landfill would have significant impacts on environmental and cultural resources.”
Slater-Price also reiterated that opponents remain firm in their belief that the proposed landfill is unnecessary and poses a significant threat to valuable water supplies including major County Water Authority infrastructure.
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