The Chiquita Canyon Landfill Technical Advisory Committee met Wednesday afternoon to discuss updates at the Val Verde landfill.

Steve Cassulo, the district manager of Chiquita Canyon, told committee members representing several county departments that a health study that kicked off early last year is ongoing. The study aims to better understand any health concerns within communities located near the landfill.

“The report is in its final reviews, at this point in time, with the consultants. I think that the goal here is just to make sure it’s as accurate as possible,” he said.

Richard Claghorn, a planner with the county Regional Planning Department, said consultants are reviewing comments.

“We think we’re near the end of the process but we just need to make sure that the consultant is ready to finalize the report,” he said, noting he hopes the study will be ready for the next Community Advisory Committee meeting in October.

Claghorn said the next CAC meeting will be held via Zoom on Oct. 5 and may also include an in-person portion at the Stevenson Ranch Library.

Cassulo added that the landfill has created a “robust mitigation program” with the support of the South Coast Air Quality Management District to address violations related to odors.

He said the landfill has been surveilling landfill odors at 20 predetermined locations at least twice per day, misting to neutralize odors and training customers to identify odorous loads.

The landfill is also preparing a report “to see if there’s any vegetation or any barriers that we could put to help disrupt the flow of the odors and the movement of the air within the landfill footprint,” he said.

Six air monitors are also in place with six more in the pipeline for installation, according to Cassulo.

“We’re getting close to getting all those air monitors in place,” he said.