On Jan. 10 The Signal printed an open letter from John Paladin outlining the problems with expansion of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill and requesting a hearing for the project.
I would like to update the citizens of Santa Clarita as to the date and time of the hearing: March, 1, 2017, 6 p.m. at Rancho Pico Jr. High School, 26250 Valencia Blvd., Stevenson Ranch (additional parking and possible alternate location is West Ranch High School).
I will take a moment to reiterate the points made in the Jan. 10 column as to why it is against the interests of the citizens of the Santa Clarita Valley to have such a huge expansion of this landfill. This is the landfill out on Route 126 over by Val Verde.
The expansion permit is requesting that the landfill be permitted to double its daily intake, from 6,000 tons to 12,000 tons, to increase the elevation of the landfill by 133 feet, to increase the landfill space from 257 acres to 400 acres, to add a Household Hazardous Waste Facility, and to turn our landfill into a destination for waste from municipalities all the way to the Mexican border, making this the biggest landfill in California, able to accept more trash than the current largest landfill in the United States.
In addition, this landfill is just south of an active fault line and on top of our valley’s groundwater aquifer. Particulate matter from this landfill is just five miles as the wind blows away from the city of Santa Clarita. Some residents of Val Verde are less than 1,000 feet from this landfill.
In 1997, the owners/operators agreed to cease operations once the landfill reached capacity. The agreement also allowed for emergency extensions and the chance to submit a renewed permit application.
There is a perfectly good place for all this trash to go. The Mesquite Regional Landfill in Imperial County is not being used at all, and it is permitted for 500,000 tons. Our landfill does not have to be expanded.
I don’t want our community to be sitting next to the largest landfill in California and a possible Hazardous Waste Facility. This is not going to help us in any way to have a “destination” landfill so close to our homes. More pollution and more garbage truck traffic is not going to raise our home values.
If you want to protest this expansion, you can attend the meeting on March 1, contact the L.A. County supervisors and county Department of Regional Planning, and let others know about this.
I had no idea until a friend informed me that this landfill expansion was even going on and had reached this level! As a parent and homeowner in Santa Clarita, I am opposed to this. I think a lot of us might be opposed to this if we’re informed about what is happening.
Thank you for taking your time to read this.
Kathy Pisaro is a Santa Clarita resident.
