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Landfill cited for building road on fa land I Recordnet.com Page 1 of 2 <br />Subscribe Today. See our Special Offers. <br />Welcome to Recordnet.com. Get Started Sign up for Off the Clock I Your FREE Monthly Email Newsletter Log In I Register I Subscribe <br />s <br />earch Recordnet.com <br />July 10, 2012 <br />20 ihevalue+af j <br />," FREEfiNEFNF` <br />WEATHER I TRAFFIC <br />HOME NEWS SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT LIFESTYLE BUSINESS OPINION YOUR TOWN SPECIAL REPORTS ( MYRECORD I CLASSIFIEDS READER SERVICES <br />Landfill cited for building <br />road on farmland <br />ID Print this Article [" Email this Article Text Size: A I A I A <br />By Alex Breitler <br />Record Staff Writer <br />July 10, 2012 12:00 AM <br />STOCKTON - Privately owned Forward Landfill has been cited for <br />building a road on adjacent farmland where it hopes to eventually <br />expand its operations, the county counsel's office reported last <br />week. <br />Neighbors fighting expansion plans took video of the road <br />construction and alerted San Joaquin County authorities, believing <br />Forward had begun expansion before approval had been granted. <br />A Forward official said Monday that the company was merely trying <br />to improve vehicle access to probes that measure the amount of <br />explosive methane gas along the boundaries of the landfill, east of <br />the Stockton Metropolitan Airport. <br />"(The county) didn't want us building a road, so we stopped and we <br />cleaned it up," said Kevin Basso, general manager of Allied Waste <br />Services, which owns Forward. "It was a dirt road. It wasn't asphalt <br />or anything. In the interest of not making a big deal out of it, we just <br />stopped and cleaned up." <br />Forward's permit prohibits landfill activities in the buffer area. It <br />already owns the 184 acres, but the land is protected by the <br />Williamson Act and cannot yet be used for purposes other than <br />agriculture. <br />"It's just so disheartening," said Michael La Forge, who owns land <br />with his wife, Jeannie, near the dump. "All the equipment they had <br />out there was not like they were building just an emergency dirt <br />road. It was heavy-duty stuff. They were getting ready to handle <br />heavy trucks." <br />Whatever the purpose of the road, any violation at Forward will be <br />under intense scrutiny as expansion plans move forward. A draft <br />environmental review could be released as soon as the end of July, <br />Basso said. <br />Neighboring landowners and pilots at the airport have joined forces <br />to oppose the project, which Forward says is necessary to extend <br />the life of the landfill beyond 2021, when it would otherwise run out <br />of space for garbage. <br />The dispute over the road began May 16 when the La Forges called <br />the county Department of Environmental Health to report activity on <br />the farmland. <br />According to a report by Assistant County Counsel Mark Myles, <br />inspectors went to the landfill and found construction equipment <br />taking soil from a stormwater pond there and placing it on the buffer <br />lands. The inspectors ordered the work halted immediately. <br />http://www.recordnet.com/appslpbcs.dll/article?AID=1201207101A NEWS/207100319/-1/rssO2 7/10/2012 <br />