Los Angeles County ordered the operators of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill to install a cover to reduce odors emanating into Castaic and surrounding areas, the Department of Public Health announced Wednesday.
The Health Department acted as the local enforcement agency on behalf of CalRecycle, the state agency that oversees landfills and waste management. The Department was successful last week in requiring the landfill to install a thick geomembrane cover over the solid waste facility.
The Los Angeles County Solid Waste Facilities Hearing Board voted 3-0 last week to deny landfill operators’ appeal, and affirmed the county’s compliance order. Board members found the required mitigation measure to be reasonable and scientifically supported, according to Health Department officials.
The order, known as Directive 4.1, requires the installation of a cover over the entire landfill by Aug. 31, including a disputed 66-acre portion of the site. The Public Health Department ensures compliance with solid waste regulations and has the authority to require the landfill to operate in a manner that protects public health and the environment.
“The community near the landfill has been significantly impacted by the odors emanating from the landfill and the Local Enforcement Agency has been working diligently to require the landfill to mitigate the gases and odors causing the issue,” Karen Gork, the Los Angeles County LEA manager, said in a statement. “We are grateful that the Los Angeles County Solid Waste Hearing Board upheld the order as we continue to work with our partners to address the ongoing reaction at the landfill.”
Since early 2022, the landfill has had a “subsurface elevated temperature event” in a section of the facility that is no longer in use, officials said. The underground heat is increasing landfill gases and leachate, which is water that drains through and picks up dissolved substances from the waste.
An existing interim soil cover has not been fully effective in controlling emissions, which has caused continuous odor and the need for stepped up mitigation efforts, according to the county. Landfill neighbors have filed thousands of complaints for odors as well as physical and mental heath problems they say result from the foul air.
Multiple local, state and federal agencies have responded by continuing to direct landfill operators to monitor, control and mitigate the landfill gas emissions and odors, officials said.
