Don’t Trash the Gaviota Coast!

The single biggest threat to the Gaviota Coast today is the County’s trash processing plant proposed at the Tajiguas Landfill. 

The County approved the project last year but relied on an incorrect boundary line for the coastal zone, and now must revise and reconsider the project. The project’s purpose was to extend the landfill’s life by 12 years, but with the delays, the landfill’s life may be extended eight years or less. As time passes, the project’s benefits decrease while costs rise. 

The Tajiguas Resource Recovery Project (TRRP) involves $120M of trash processing machines housed in two Costco-sized buildings on top of the Tajiguas Landfill. All solid waste from the South Coast (except Carpinteria), Solvang, Buellton and the Cuyama Valley will be trucked to the TRRP for processing. Residential trash rates will need to increase by at least 40% to pay for the TRRP; some estimate the rate increases will be much higher. 

To overcome the coastal zone problem, the County is proposing to expand trash processing beyond the Tajiguas Landfill and onto the adjacent Baron Ranch. Baron Ranch was to serve as a buffer for the Tajiguas Landfill, not as an expansion zone. While the County’s vague proposal leaves many unanswered questions, the expansion onto Baron Ranch represents a significant threat to the Gaviota Coast. 

TRRP is entirely incompatible with the National Seashore-worthy Gaviota Coast. The TRRP will substantially increase the amount of traffic on the Gaviota Coast, will squander the potential to reduce greenhouse gases through carbon farming (a practice referenced in the Paris Agreement that sequesters atmospheric carbon in the soil), and will extend operations at the Landfill for 20 more years. The County pledged to close the landfill by 2015 but now proposes to extend operations until 2036. 

In proposing the TRRP, the County rejected viable alternatives that would have less cost, fewer impacts, and move towards Zero Waste goals that many other local governments have adopted throughout the Country. We can do better. 

Five solid waste experts recommend NO onTRRP 

(click above for their letter)

• Paul Relis, Former State of California Board Member, CalRecycle Lecturer in Waste Management, UC Santa Barbara Vice Chair, Bioenergy Association of California
• Gary Petersen, Former State of California Board Member, CalRecycle Former Vice President Waste Management, Inc. Former Director of Environmental Affairs, Recycle America
• William O’Toole, President, EcoNomics Inc. 
• Nick Lapis, Director of Advocacy, Californians Against Waste 
• Matt Cotton, Principal, Integrated Waste Management Consulting, LLC

Gaviota Coast Conservancy urges the Board to just say no to TRRP expansion 

(click above for our letter)

 Endangered red-legged frog, recently found at Tajiguas