The federal Environmental Protection Agency announced another good news-bad news situation for Castaic and Val Verde residents plagued by the smell from Chiquita Canyon Landfill.
A new project is expected to fix the slope problems and leachate seepage on the west side of the facility; however, the project could result in another temporary increase in the landfill’s odors, which have been described as nauseating and already resulted in an average of 2,000 complaints a month.
The primary cause of the reaction is still unknown, as is whether there are any potential long-term health effects or impacts to the area’s water table, which is a major source of concern for residents.
John Musella, a spokesman for the landfill, said the current wells on the site have not detected any contamination.
The landfill also was ordered to build off-site monitoring wells in order to detect off-site contamination and it has failed to do so, per a June 27 violation notice from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.
The work announced Friday is focused on a nearly 2-acre portion of the western slope of the facility. It is expected to provide significant relief to the situation once completed in approximately six weeks, according to a statement from Michael Brogan, press officer for the EPA.
“The project involves the removal of a plastic cover called a scrim currently covering the west slope, installation of a drain and sumps to better control the leachate, followed by the installation of a geomembrane cover,” according to the email.
Leachate is a noxious chemical byproduct commonly found at landfills created by rainwater filtering through decomposing garbage and its gases.
In a phone interview Friday, Brogan said the work will be completed in stretches of 100 feet at a time, and while the smell might get worse during the work, the landfill is expected to re-cover the slope at night.
“Once the project is complete, the entire reaction area of the landfill will have been capped, which is expected to result in a significant reduction of overall gas emissions from the landfill,” he added. “In addition, the project is expected to improve the stability of the west slope.”
The work is being done as a result of the “unilateral administrative order” that the landfill was issued by a Multiagency Critical Action Team that’s supervising the situation in concern with the Response Multi-Agency Coordination Group, Brogan said.
“It’s possible this new project might result in a temporary increase in odors, though the landfill operators will take proactive measures to minimize that risk by applying odor suppressant foam, working in short sections, and putting the cover back in place nightly,” according to his email. “The R-MAC will closely monitor the work being performed and track community air monitoring systems and complaint logs for any changes. Officials are hopeful mitigation measures will prevent any increase in odors.”
Musella said the work was unrelated to problems documented by residents in social media posts who have submitted photos of the leachate in stormwater channels at the facility.
Musella said the photos, which also were documented in an L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board violation notice dated April 9, were “false and misleading.”
In response to the photos, the L.A. Regional Water Quality Control Board asked the landfill “to take the following actions immediately: 1. Stop discharge of water into local waterways that flow into the Santa Clara River from the south detention basin and any other stormwater basins using pumping equipment that bypass the primary outlets of the south or other detention basin’s design for controlled release of water,” according to the notice.
Chiquita Canyon continues to deny the allegations, Musella said.
The landfill initially garnered attention from regulators more than 16 months ago, due to a reaction site at the landfill that’s producing a 250-degree reaction at its core and causing the landfill to sink unto itself, at a rate of about 12 inches a month.
As part of the byproduct of that chemical reaction, the landfill is producing around 1 million gallons of leachate per month, which is part of the smell problem, and an overwhelming amount of dimethyl sulfide, a stinky landfill gas, which is a separate but related issue to the landfill’s problems.