SUNSHINE CANYON : Landfill Opponents Denied Legal Costs

A judge has refused to order Browning-Ferris Industries to pay $350,000 to cover the legal costs of a homeowner group that sued the company to block the expansion of a landfill in Sunshine Canyon.

The North Valley Coalition of homeowners sought the money under a state law that allows litigants to win legal costs if they prevail in a lawsuit that is necessary to secure important rights of interest to the general public.

In a ruling late Tuesday, Superior Court Judge Ronald M. Sohigian held that the coalition’s lawsuit was unnecessary because the city of Los Angeles also had sued to block the landfill project; the city and the coalition are allied in a lawsuit that challenges the adequacy of the environmental review for the landfill.

Another defendant in the lawsuits is the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, which granted the company a permit to develop a 200-acre landfill in an area of Sunshine Canyon that is outside the city.

Sohigian largely upheld the environmental review in March; the City Council is appealing.

Browning-Ferris attorney Steve Weston on Wednesday predicted that the denial of legal fees would hurt the homeowners.

But Mary Edwards, a coalition officer, said her group’s attorney, Tony Rossman, will continue to press an appeal. She said she was unsure how much the group had paid Rossman.