The Citizens for Chiquita Canyon Closure have reported that Waste Connections will end its relief/relocation assistance program for victims of the noxious gases emitting from the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in the Santa Clarita Valley. Current funding for the program will end on Feb. 28.

Residents in Val Verde and Castaic were most impacted by the results of an underground elevated temperature landfill event that the landfill has had limited success in working to control. Waste Connections, operators of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill, announced the landfill would stop accepting trash and close its doors on Jan. 1, 2025, after operating in the SCV for 52 years.

The landfill has been the target of numerous violations issued by the Environmental Protection Agency and the South Coast Air Quality Management District for more than two years since the smoldering chemical reaction began.

Residents have requested a state of emergency declaration by Los Angeles County for the event which has reportedly caused negative health effects for nearby landfill residents.

Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth and U.S Congressman George Whitesides, D-Aqua Dulce, have offered strong support to the community.

Schiavo and Whitesides have introduced bills in the California Assembly and U.S. House of Representatives to eliminate a tax on disbursed relief funds.

The Los Angeles Board of Supervisors has not issued the requested state of emergency declaration that advocates state would assist residents with accessing programs for healthcare and the financial burden of relocation.

However, the L.A. Board of Supervisors did file a lawsuit against Chiquita Canyon in December 2024 to address “ongoing environmental and public health hazards caused by the landfill’s operations.”

“Los Angeles County acknowledged in its lawsuit that the landfill has caused significant harm to the community. It is clear that a state of emergency must be declared and the County must provide adequate resources to support local residents,” said Oshea Orchid, resident, local leader and managing partner at Sethi Orchid Miner, LLP.