LOS ANGELES — It's been over a year since residents living near the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic began dealing with a constant rotting like smell in connection to the landfill. 

According to CalEPA, since May 2022, an inactive part of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill has had an exothermic chemical reaction occurring underground. As a result, a noxious odor formed and has been spreading to nearby communities. The reaction is also producing contaminated waste water called leachate, which CalEPA found to have high levels of benzene, a cancer-causing chemical harmful to public health and the environment. 

In response, the South Coast Air Quality Management District first issue an order for abatement September 2023, and modified it for the fourth time November 2024. 

This time they imposed 15 new or modified conditions, which include further expanding air monitoring, reducing downtime of the flares and related equipment, increasing community access to air quality data and historical data, and reducing spills, leaks and the potential for equipment failures at the site.

The revised order is effective immediately, with the exception of actions that require a future deadline. 

Representatives for the landfill's operators, Waste Connections, also announced a tarp-like cover put over the 42 acres in questions should be done in the next couple of weeks when it is expected to reduce surface emissions and odors. 

Since January 2023, the AQMD has received more than 25,000 complaints about odors and issued 42 notices of violations for public nuisance.