Waste Connections attorneys have criticized the proposed modification order from the South Coast Air Quality Management District to install remote monitoring systems for approximately 240 gas collection wells at Chiquita Canyon Landfill.
Megan Morgan of Beveridge & Diamond, attorney for landfill operator Waste Connections, stated during the AQMD hearing on Tuesday morning that imposing a requirement to install monitoring systems on all the landfill’s gas collection wells within the initial chemical reaction area would strain Chiquita Canyon Landfill’s ability to meet the deadline to complete the West Toe excavation project.
The landfill has been experiencing an increase in noxious odors since May 2022 because of a chemical reaction from within an inactive portion of the landfill, according to the California Environmental Protection Agency.
The west slope specifically, according to Chiquita Canyon’s website, has seen an increase in production of leachate, liquids that seep out of waste. Morgan previously attributed these increased levels of the liquids and the reaction odors to elevated landfill temperature reactions, or ETLFs.
As a response to mitigate and control the leachate levels, Chiquita Canyon began excavation work on Aug. 8.
Morgan contested AQMD’s proposal for Chiquita Canyon to have completed installation of the monitoring system in all affected wells by Nov. 22, and instead proposed that the company initially install the systems in six wells to serve as a sample.
Nathaniel Dickel, AQMD waste management senior engineer, said that the request for an extension on the Nov. 22 deadline would sidetrack the original intent of the district.
“One of the purposes of the pilot study is for liquid level monitors, which is not required for South Coast AQMD’s proposed conditions,” Dickel said. “We think it would be likely useful, but our condition requires pressure and temperature monitoring, so extending this for the purpose of liquid level monitoring is opposed to what South Coast AQMD intended.”
Lynne Plambeck, president of Santa Clarita Organization for Planning and the Environment, expressed frustration with delays from Chiquita Canyon during her testimony.
“We are really concerned that they are stalling,” Plambeck said. “They’re doing the same thing with the water monitoring well, and the more they stall, the less data you have. We’re really concerned with the water monitoring too, which of course is not [the hearing board’s] purview, but it’s exactly the same situation. Somehow, they can’t put it in and we’ve asked for that for two decades.”
The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, Aug. 27, at 9:30 a.m. at the South Coast AQMD headquarters in Diamond Bar, but will also have a remote option available at scaqmd.zoom.us/j/91429342608.
