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SAN JOAQUIN FARM BUREAU FEDERATION MEETING TODAY'S CHALLENGES I PLANNING FOR TOMORROW '— August 12, 2014 AUG 12 [014 Mr. John Funderburg San Joaquin County Community Development Department Community San n County Development Services Division ommunityity Development 1810 E. Hazleton Avenue Stockton, CA 95205 RE: PA-0800087(UP) Dear Mr. Funderburg: _ The San Joaquin Farm Bureau Federation(SJFB) is a private, non-profit membership based advocacy organization serving approximately 4,000 agricultural and associate members in San Joaquin County. Our organization has been closely following the proposed expansion of the _ Forward landfill on Austin Road as we believe the expansion will be detrimental to the agricultural land surrounding the property and the community as a whole. The expansion would use agriculturally zoned land for an inherently industrial use. The effect _ that this will have on the have on water and air quality is particularly concerning considering the impacts cannot be mitigated per the FEIR. The operation of this facility in its location has been a huge burden on the farmers that surround it. Expanding the capacity of the landfill by almost a third will undoubtedly increase the lifespan of the landfill and the intensity of its use with over 900 trucks on Austin Road every day. The approval of this application will lead to the increased intensity of the use of the site and will have truly devastating impacts on neighboring agricultural operations as they are now subject to _ regulations that prohibit litter in fields, which has been nearly impossible for this specific operation to control.Also, landfills are a known attraction to disease carrying birds which increases the threat of pathogens on crops grown nearby. Furthermore,this is the second expansion that Forward has proposed. It is apparent that the long- term plan for this landfill as demonstrated by current and past behavior would most assuredly remove more land from agricultural production. Because of the impact that the landfill has had on impairing surrounding agricultural operations already, we are concerned that the application that expands their capacity condemns the farmers to having to contend with impaired water quality, air quality, and debris in perpetuity and therefore we oppose this application. 3290 NORTH AD ART ROAD•STOCKTON,CA•95215-(209)9314931 •(209)931-1433 Fax WWW.SJFB.ORG