A 1999 agreement between Waste Management and the city of Simi Valley says the "city will actively and fully support Waste Management's efforts to obtain any and all approvals needed for expansions of the landfill."

Some residents now fear that contract language could be used by the company to keep the city out of the review process for a proposed landfill expansion.

But city officials and Waste Management representatives say the wording and context of the contract, which in 2002 was extended through 2034, is being misinterpreted.

Members of a committee reviewing the proposed expansion say that by approving the agreement as a consent agenda item in 1999, the City Council inadvertently prevented an open discussion of the expansion.

The proposal would double the waste-disposal area at the Simi Valley Landfill from 185 to 371 acres north of the city, in an unincorporated area.

"As long as that's in place, it ties the hands of the city 100 percent," said Louis Pandolfi, a member of the Simi Valley Landfill Expansion Task Force, which discussed the contract Wednesday night.

On Friday, however, Waste Management officials tried to quell such suspicions.

"The intention of this clause was originally to protect the city of Simi Valley's disposal capacity into the future," said Kit Cole, a spokeswoman for Waste Management.

Cole said Waste Management will send a letter to the city clarifying that it is not obligated to support the expansion project.

City Manager Mike Sedell also said the four-line paragraph in the contract is being misinterpreted.

"The main purpose of this extension of the agreement was to continue the benefits of revenues coming in for improvements of roads and streets in the community," Sedell said Friday. Last year, the city received $263,000 from Waste Management for road improvements.

Sedell, city manager since 1995, said another reason was to ensure Simi Valley residents would receive priority for use of the landfill, instead of having to send their trash to another town.

Sedell said the word "expansion" in the 1999 agreement refers to an earlier expansion up for county approval in 2002, to allow Waste Management to collect trash and fees in other Ventura County cities.

Although Waste Management officials were invited to speak to the task force, they have not attended its two meetings so far.

Cole said the company plans to hold a series of community meetings after the expansion application is deemed complete.

The California Environmental Quality Act process "will ensure that all cities, government entities and the general public will have an opportunity to participate in the decision-making process around this project," Cole said.

The proposed landfill expansion has met with controversy since an application was submitted in April to the county. The company wants to increase the landfill's waste capacity from 29.6 million tons to 98.5 million tons.

Fears about additional garbage truck traffic and an increase of trash from outside Ventura County led to the creation of the task force, members said.

In other action Wednesday, Moorpark resident and architect Charles Blaugrund was appointed to the task force.

The landfill application process could take 18 to 24 months before a vote is taken by the county Board of Supervisors. The task force is set to meet monthly.