Judge revisits Gregory Canyon EIR issue

A judge took under advisement Friday his tentative ruling regarding the decertification of certain parts of the environmental impact report of the Gregory Canyon Landfill project.

Superior Court Judge Michael M. Anello ruled the environmental impact report, already approved by the county, was flawed in three areas.

• Biological mitigation — That the amount set aside is inadequate.

• Traffic — Not an adequate traffic analysis.

• Water supply — A question of where the water will come from to supply the landfill.

If the judge upholds the decision to set aside the certification of the final environmental impact report, it does not mean the Gregory Canyon Ltd. will have to begin the process all over again. It means they just need to fix what’s wrong.

On Friday the two sides met in court, where Wes Peltzer, who is representing the Gregory Canyon Ltd., asked the judge to be very specific about what environmental changes have to be made.

"It’s like going fishing in the world’s largest ocean," he said. "We need to know specifically what we need to comply with."

Everett L. DeLano III, representing the Pala Band of Mission Indians, RiverWatch and the city of Oceanside, which brought suit against the dump plans, thinks this ruling is a major setback for the Gregory Canyon group. "They need to fix the problems and there are many and they are substantial," DeLano said. "They have a long way to go to fix these problems.”

Just last month the area was declared a “historic site” by the State Historic Preservation office. It is considered “culturally significant” by members of the Pala Indians as a sacred site of worship and reflection.

A portion of the Gregory Mountain is proposed for the privately run garbage dump by Gregory Canyon Ltd. The new designation means dump developers must now meet with representatives of the Pala Band to address the cultural issues.

"We are going to trash this thing," said Lenore Volturno, director of environmental services for the Pala Band. "It is ridiculous the project has made it this far with such faulty environmental documents."

Still the proponents of the dump feel they have suffered only a minor setback.

"We’ve got a very small nail in a very small tire. We are fixing that hole," said Richard Chase, landfill project manager outside the courthouse. "The county approved this project. We and the county are on the same wavelength."

The landfill is planned for the canyon about three miles east of Interstate-15 off State Route 76.

Anello ruled originally on October 4 that the environmental impact report was flawed in several areas.