LOS ANGELES — State legislators are calling on Gov. Gavin Newsom to declare a state of emergency in response to the ongoing environmental health issues at the Chiquita Canyon Landfill.
“We just want to make sure that resources are available to neighbors to support them and also available to the agencies that can respond, so they can respond quickly without red tape getting in the way,” said Assemblymember Pilar Schiavo, who represents the Santa Clarita area.
In a statement, Chiquita Canyon Landfill district manager Steve Cassulo responded to the calls for the State of Emergency: “We welcome the continued discussion with, and support from, all of our federal, state, regional and local regulatory authorities, as well as any additional resources from the State of California to deal with the elevated temperature landfill (ETLF) event. Last month, Chiquita created an Incident Action Plan and team at the landfill to lead the onsite coordination of mitigation efforts. This team has been working closely with the EPA-led multi-agency taskforce to bring about a swift resolution to the issue.”
The calls come nearly a year after the issue began, when residents such as Susie Evans began smelling a pungent odor.
“We would smell it every now and then, living here 500 feet from the dump. About a year ago, it started getting worse. The smells were worse. The frequency was worse,” she said.
Having lived in the area for 14 years, Evans says she knew something was wrong.
Reports from the South Coast Air Quality Management district found an underground chemical reaction was causing high temperatures, leading to the odors.
Since then, the district has received around 7,000 odor complaints traced back to the landfill.
Waste Connections, the company that owns the landfill, has installed new extraction wells and new flare equipment to help remove gases that produce odors.
Evans noted that residents soon realized the smell was part of a larger concern.
“And it’s not just the smell. Your eyes burn, your nose burns. My throat burns, and my lungs burn,” she said.
Last October, Los Angeles County encouraged residents to keep their windows closed and created a grant program to reimburse residents who live near the landfill for high electrical bills. This as Evans and many other residents have not opened their windows since the issue began nearly a year ago.
Starting this month, the landfill company also created a relief fund, where nearby residents can apply online for funds to help with temporary relocation, home hardening or to pay for increased utility bills.
It previously also provided air purifier machines that Evans has been using. However, she says that this time, she is hesitant to apply for any relief funds, as she does not trust the company.
“I don’t want their money. I want them to fix it if they’re going to stay open,” she said. “I don’t want them to stay open while they are fixing it though, because they got to put all their efforts into fixing it.”
The Texas-based company that owns the landfill has also installed an air monitoring program that reports live data for various chemicals.
Given the ongoing issue, South Coast AQMD inspectors have returned to check on the landfill. During one of the assessments, inspectors observed leachate, or liquid chemicals created from decaying trash, seeping out of the ground and out of gas collection wells at the landfill. The inspectors attributed it to a malfunction in the facility’s leachate collection and storage system.
In November, a multi-agency task force was created that includes the LA County Public Works, County Public Health, County Fire Health Hazmat, California Air Resources Board, LA Regional Water Quality Control Board, CalRecyle and the EPA.
Last month, the EPA released a report saying the Chiquita Canyon Landfill presented an Imminent and Substantial Endangerment to Nearby Communities citing elevated levels of benzene, a hazardous substance that the CDC has linked to leukemia.
In the same month, the Department of Toxic Substances Control also cited the landfill for attempting to dispose of leachate, at a non-hazardous waste treatment facility in Gardena.
Recently, the LA Regional Water Quality Control Board denied the landfill’s request to expand operations.
“The application was denied due to the fact that the Chiquita Canyon Landfill operators provided insufficient information for the board to evaluate whether an expansion would comply with the federal Clean Water Act and appropriate state law water quality requirements,” a spokesperson for the board in a statement.
The landfill company is allowed to reapply for the expansion.