HUNTINGTON BEACH, Calif. - Pye Ian is a longtime Huntington Beach resident who lives about 4000 feet -- in a straight line -- from the Ascon toxic landfill. Its clean-up was recently suspended by the Department of Toxic Substances after hundreds of complaints were filed by residents.

“It’s since early April that the preponderance of respiratory and other very odd symptoms have occurred in South Huntington amongst toddlers, infants, young people, who go to Edison High School or live in the area, middle-aged parents and certainly the elderly,” said Ian.

Ian's family has been living in this house since 1977. He remembers his late mother who passed in August of last year.

She had a rare bladder cancer and then lung cancer, which spread aggressively and took her life.

“Some would argue, 'well, you just had a very close relative pass and grief tends to be kept in the chest.' I’ve read some of those things. But that’s different from the fairly immediate sense of an attack feeling that I’ve had in my chest,” he said.

Ian himself is dealing with pulmonary issues that started in April, around when the 18-month Ascon toxic landfill clean-up began to pick up.

He and other concerned residents of a Facebook community established to discuss the issue believe that the health problems they’ve experienced are no coincidence, citing fumes and dust coming from the landfill.

“A series of us have done the simple math on this to get the sense that they are not in fact coincidences. These persistent symptoms amongst various residents and students of the area have overlapped,” said Ian.

The DTSC is requiring the site to make changes before clean-up can start again saying in part, “The additional safeguards include measures to address odors emanating from the site into the nearby Edison High School, other schools, and surrounding community.”

The DTSC has also stated that work practices that generate dust and odors must be corrected.

For Ian, the situation is still too close to home.

“My situation was not isolated. There have in fact been tens if not hundreds of other cases,” he said.

A statement on the Ascon Landfill website states:

"DTSC states that 'monitoring has not found any chemicals in the air above a level that causes public health concern.'"

The Department of Toxic Substances Control is requiring (among other mitigations) a higher fence be built to keep dust in.

And while the project is shut down for now, it could pick back up at any point.