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Uphill fight for landfill I Recordnet.c . Page 2 of 3 "Even with the economy,waste is still coming in and at our current rate we have 12 to 13 years of capacity left," Basso said Tuesday. "We're just looking out to the future to make sure we can remain viable." Jeannie La Forge wants to make sure her orchards a mile or so south of Forward remain viable for her children. The land was owned by her grandfather, Patrick Lynch, long before the first landfill was established here in 1954. "1 don't want to be looking at the Mount Diablo of garbage across the street,"said La Forge,who does not live on the property but wants it to stay in the family. The landfill's peak elevation of 210 feet will not increase, according to Basso and a draft environmental impact report up for public comment. Rather,the plan is to expand horizontally onto about 180 acres of farmland,which Forward has already purchased. Forward says it will acquire an easement to conserve farmland elsewhere and make up for the loss, but critics say potentially valuable ag land currently under Williamson Act contract should not be turned into landfill. Also, more than a half-mile of Little John's Creek would have to be rerouted to allow for expansion. Other worries by neighbors include air pollution, odors,wind-borne trash, groundwater quality and traffic. The number of trucks allowed to visit the landfill, for example, could increase from 620 to 960 per day,with a potential peak of 85 trash haulers per hour. Indeed,when La Forge stands on Austin Road near her grandfather's property, she pauses every two minutes or so as the roar of a passing truck drowns out her words. While landowners have their own concerns, pilots say more trash means more birds circling the landfill, over which airplanes pass on their way into Stockton Municipal Airport one mile west. Seventeen confirmed bird strikes have been reported at the airport since 1990,the draft report says,adding that figure is not considered to be substantial. Ask passengers on board U.S. Airways Flight 1549 how many bird strikes constitute "substantial,"says Rick Tutt of R.J. Tuft Aviation at the airport. "I suspect that was also quite negligible until they ended up in the Hudson River,"Tuft said. Forward Landfill is actually two dumps that were combined in 2002. One, known as the Austin Road landfill,was opened in 1954 by the city of Stockton. The second, private landfill lured away customers from the city dump,which eventually was purchased by Forward. The company agreed to improve groundwater quality near the unlined city landfill,where some residents are reportedly still using bottled water. The expansion would increase Forward Landfill's remaining capacity from 25 million cubic yards to 68.5 million cubic yards. The difference is enough to fill the Louisiana Superdome nine times. In a 2008 letter when Forward's expansion plans were first announced,officials warned that the expansion would have"significant long-term impacts"on county solid-waste facilities and could lead to fee increases to offset Forward's increase in capacity. There appears to be room for San Joaquin County's trash in existing landfills, at least right now.The Foothill Sanitary east of Linden,for example, is permitted to fill 102 million cubic yards; it still has 89.7 million cubic yards of space, according to the draft report. Contact reporter Alex Breitler at(209) 546-8295 or abreitler@recordnet.com. http://www.recordnet.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20100210/A NEWS/2100332&template=printart 2/10/2010