South Coast Air Quality Management staff members proposed modifications to the Order of Abatement issued to Chiquita Canyon Landfill on Saturday during a hearing at the Santa Clarita Performing Arts at College of the Canyons.
Kathryn Roberts, senior deputy district counsel for the AQMD, stated in her status report that Chiquita Canyon is behind schedule, regarding what the company was required to do as per the Order of Abatement issued in September 2023.
“The overall status at this time, following up to 11 months of the abatement order, is that there has been no meaningful improvement to the odors,” Roberts stated.
Roberts said South Coast AQMD has received complaints from near the landfill area and other neighborhoods 4 to 5 miles away.
“Excavation of the reactionary waste mass is underway as we speak today,” Roberts said. “That exposes some of the worst smelling, decomposed waste, as well as toxic leachate and gases to the air each day. This action is an emergency one, and it is necessary to ensure slow stability, but it is being done roughly 1,000 feet from the nearest resident.”
The proposed modifications, Roberts stated, would include pausing trash operations between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m., when trash odors are reported to be strongest. Other modifications included reducing the landfill’s working face by 50%, daily inspections and leak testing for leachate, and mitigating odors by limiting excavation time.
Megan Morgan of Beveridge & Diamond, attorney for landfill operator Waste Connections, responded to AQMD’s status report by attributing the continued odors to elevated temperature landfill events, or ETLFs.
According to an informational document from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, an ETLF is when a municipal solid waste landfill “exhibits temperatures above regulatory thresholds due to abnormal chemical reactions within the waste mass.”
“Chiquita, its experts and the district have learned there is no simple way to slow and stop ETLFs,” said Morgan, in Chiquita Canyon’s opening statement. “If there were, Chiquita would be doing it.”
Residents of the surrounding area also voiced their concerns about the ongoing issues with the landfill, primarily regarding the wellbeing of their health and the health of their families.
Resident Liz Melanson, one of more than a dozen residents who commented and testified during the hearing, stated that she was frustrated with the ongoing odors coming from the landfill, despite Chiquita’s efforts to compensate residents with grants.
“I want to be able to go outside my house and enjoy playing games, doing yard work, wash my car, take a walk, talk to neighbors, or have a barbecue without the horrible stench and smell,” Melanson said. “It’s absolutely ridiculous that this has been able to continue for two years. This is not about the money. This is about the health, and we should be able to breathe clean air. It’s our right.”
The hearing is scheduled to continue in person Tuesday, Aug. 20, at 9:30 a.m. at the South Coast AQMD Headquarters in Diamond Bar but will also have a remote option available at https://scaqmd.zoom.us/j/91429342608.
