(CALIFORNIA) The planned closure of Brea's landfill in 2013 has left San Diego County officials scrambling for another location to dump the northern region's trash. Alternatives could mean trucking it out of the county, hauling it by train to the desert, or adding to existing landfills in Irvine and San Juan Capistrano.

Northern San Diego County's trash is part of a complicated grid that by 2013 could lead to a doubling or more of the region's disposal fees, even as the rest of the county pays far cheaper disposal rates. While the crisis, if it comes to that, will not arrive for 12 years with the scheduled closure of Brea's Olinda Alpha Landfill, the county's Integrated Waste Management Department needs to devise a solution long before that.

County authorities are trying to work out a deal with Brea officials to keep the landfill open beyond 2013. Otherwise, Irvine and San Juan Capistrano landfills could take the displaced waste, but at a significant cost increase.

There is also the matter of outside waste, and the funds it brings, to consider. While the Olinda landfill receives most of northern San Diego County's waste, it also receives the bulk of the waste trucked into the county. About 35 percent of the waste dumped at Olinda comes from outside the county.

San Diego must find a solution for disposing of 100,000 tons of waste each year when the Brea facility closes. Hauling the trash to neighboring counties is one of five options, each potentially controversial, being reviewed by the waste department's Regional Landfill Options for Orange County committee, or RELOOC. The committee will submit recommendations to the Board of Supervisors in 2004 as part of a 40-year waste disposal plan.

That plan will be dictated in large part by the willingness of Irvine to expand and extend the life of the Frank R. Bowerman landfill, and whether San Juan Capistrano would do the same with its Prima Deshecha landfill. The two landfills already take small amounts of Brea waste when that landfill reaches its daily tonnage limit.

The county's plans also include approaching the area's largest landowner, the Irvine Co., to see if it would be willing to let Gypsum Canyon in Anaheim Hills and Round Canyon in Irvine be used as landfills. Round Canyon abuts Irvine's landfill.

Irvine Co. officials said a development agreement with Anaheim rules out Gypsum Canyon, but the company is willing to discuss Round Canyon.

If new agreements cannot be reached with Brea, Irvine and San Juan Capistrano, San Diego County will have little choice but to move its waste, by truck or rail, to Riverside County landfills.

Early estimates put the cost of rail hauling at $33 to $45 per ton, but county officials say it could cost three or four times the current $22 now charged to dump in-county.

Rail costs concern officials the most. If the county takes that path, tons of waste would be moved by rail to the Eagle Mountain landfill in a remote corner of Riverside County. If that happens, San Diego would have to build a transfer station and, possibly, rail spurs to connect with existing lines. While there are no cost estimates for such a facility, officials are certain it would run into the millions.

All parties agree that Brea, Irvine and San Juan Capistrano together hold the key to finding a solution for the looming San Diego County trash problem.

County officials want to extend the Olinda landfill's lifespan to 2021 and expand into nearby Look Canyon. But that will delay the ultimate use of the landfill, as the waste board is obligated to build a regional park at the site.

Irvine and San Juan Capistrano officials are also working with RELOOC, but they too have expressed concern about the options that affect their cities. One option calls for vertical expansion at the Irvine landfill, stacking trash 200 feet higher than currently allowed to 1,350 feet. But county officials know that such a proposal will be difficult to sell to Irvine residents.

Any agreement reached with the county would have to include recycling incentives, Irvine officials said. California cities are required to recycle 50 percent of their waste, but city officials said additional measures would be necessary before they would agree to expanding the landfill.

County plans for Bowerman, scheduled to close in 2024, include extending it to Round Canyon, if possible, and keeping it open until 2038. If Irvine does not approve the extension, trash dumped at Bowerman likewise would have to be trucked elsewhere when that landfill closes.

Still another option is to nearly double the amount of waste dumped at the Prima landfill in the hills near San Juan Capistrano. But as with Irvine, county officials would have to negotiate the change with San Juan Capistrano officials. The county signed agreements with each city when it began importing waste in 1995.

In San Juan Capistrano's case, the agreement places strict limits on how high the trash can be piled. In addition, the county would have to obtain a permit from the state before increasing the amount of incoming waste. City officials said they would not permit a vertical expansion that would allow the landfill to be visible over other ridges.

It is not clear whether county officials will call for more trash to be dumped at the San Juan Capistrano landfill, scheduled to close in 2040, if the Brea landfill closes as scheduled.

There are other options available. Orange County went into the importation business after its 1994 bankruptcy, a move to generate needed funds. Since 1995, the county has raised about $90 million taking waste at its three landfills.

Importation will continue through 2015, when the county is scheduled to finish paying off its bankruptcy debts. Outside counties are allowed to dump trash at a lower fee than that paid by local haulers, a post-bankruptcy deal used to tempt outsiders to Orange County landfills.

For more information, contact the San Diego County Land Use & Environment Group, (619) 531-6256 .