The South Coast Air Quality Management District Hearing Board passed an interim stipulated order of abatement, requiring that Chiquita Canyon Landfill take additional steps to mitigate the ongoing odor problem at the landfill.
The order was approved during a hearing board meeting on Tuesday morning, and includes more than two dozen conditions, including limitations on the size of the west excavation site.
“These conditions are aimed at improving the landfill gas collection system, improving the leachate collection and treatment system, reducing leachate spills and leaks along with the odors that could arise from those events, further reducing odors from excavation from the West Slope project, and further enhancing air monitoring and community notifications,” Kathryn Roberts, senior deputy district counsel for the AQMD, said during the hearing.
Chiquita Canyon Landfill began excavating the western portion of the site earlier this month and has seen an increase in leachate, or liquids that seep from waste, according to the landfill’s website.
Complaints from residents who live near the landfill have been ongoing, as South Coast AQMD stated in a press release that it has received more than 20,000 complaints about the odors since January 2023.
Other conditions included in the stipulated order include odor surveillance at least twice for every operating day and expansion of the public notification system, to let people know when levels of benzene have exceeded air quality standards.
The news release also stated that both parties have agreed to the orders to ease the conditions in the community, which has been dealing with an increase in strong odors from the landfill for two years, as previously reported by The Signal.
“The order was agreed upon to offer the community immediate relief and avoid delaying implementation of the vast majority of conditions,” the news release said. “In nearly a year following the issuance of the original order of abatement, the landfill has shown no meaningful decrease in nuisance-level odors in the impacted communities. The elevated landfill temperature is ongoing at a portion of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill and is considered a rare occurrence. Numerous experts have been retained to understand and mitigate the impacts of the elevated temperature.”
While there was some agreement during the hearing, AQMD and Chiquita Canyon have not yet agreed on other conditions related to mitigation and a proposal to pause the landfill’s operations between 7 and 10 a.m.
Chiquita Canyon, in response to AQMD’s proposal of pausing operations, requested a subpoena be added to the interim order to allow the landfill to evaluate the data used for AQMD’s reasoning behind the proposed condition.
During Chiquita Canyon Landfill’s closing remarks, Megan Morgan of Beveridge & Diamond, attorney for landfill operator Waste Connections, said that closure of the working face at the landfill would result in closure of Chiquita Canyon.
“Chiquita, in closing, would remind the board that these contested conditions about the working face would shut down Chiquita’s operations,” Morgan said. “[The condition] is an extremely drastic measure. Chiquita has not yet seen any data that would support such a finding.”
An “active face” or “working face” refers to the working surface of a landfill where waste is deposited during the landfill operations, according to the California Department of Resources, Recycling and Recovery.
The next hearing is scheduled to be in person Nov. 13 and 14 at 9:30 a.m. at the South Coast AQMD Headquarters in Diamond Bar. A remote option will also be available at scaqmd.zoom.us/j/91429342608.
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