In response to the growing public health emergency at the Chiquita Canyon Landfill fire, Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo (D-Chatsworth), and 30 members of the State Legislature sent a formal letter to Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday, April 23, requesting immediate support for residents impacted by toxic emissions from the landfill.

According to CalEPA’s most recent update, the reaction area at Chiquita Canyon Landfill has tripled in size and now threatens the release of hazardous leachate. The fire continues to release methane, hydrogen sulfide, and nearly two dozen known carcinogens. Residents report debilitating symptoms including nausea, dizziness, heart palpitations, multiple miscarriages, death of otherwise healthy family pets, and prolonged nosebleeds, one so severe it led to ER hospitalization after the resident began bleeding from her eyes. Some families are taking refuge in their cars, sleeping with their family in parking lots farther from the landfill.

The letter calls for a change in strategy beyond only monitoring air quality and tracking symptoms, and urges Newsom to provide direct assistance to families being made sick by the burning landfill, including relocation aid, healthcare support and tax relief, while the ongoing lawsuit and regulatory proceedings move forward.

“For over three years, families living near the Chiquita Canyon Landfill have endured toxic exposure from an underground fire that has recently tripled in size and that officials now expect to burn for decades,” said Schiavo. “We cannot ask these families to wait for a lawsuit to play out while their kids breathe cancer-causing chemicals every single day. Some community members are so sick they have become unable to work, even losing homes. This is a health emergency, and the state must act like it.”

The landfill’s community relief program was abruptly terminated in February 2025, leaving residents without financial help, which already was barely covering the basics and did not include relocation or other key assistance. Without intervention, thousands of families may be forced to live with long-term toxic exposure and its life-altering consequences for decades.

The letter urges Newsom to take the following actions to provide both short-term and long-term relief:

— Exempt impacted schools from outdoor physical education requirements

== Define and communicate which areas are most affected

— Provide tax relief for disaster-related financial assistance

— Offer relocation and mortgage relief for displaced families

— Allow tax base transfers for residents seeking permanent relocation

— Fund a long-term health study to assess impacts on nearby communities

“Much like the Aliso Canyon disaster a decade ago, this situation demands an emergency response,” said Schiavo. “The symptoms, chemical exposure, and  scale of the public health threat are even greater now, and yet the response doesn’t match that urgency, and public health is not being protected. That must change.”

The letter to Newsom is attached and can be read in full here.

Schiavo and the Los Angeles County Legislative Delegation sent a similar letter to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, calling for immediate local action.

If appropriate steps are not taken by the county, the letter urges Newsom to direct the California Department of Public Health to step in and provide protections residents need.