Chiquita Canyon Landfill no longer has to pay more than $5 million in penalties and fees imposed by Los Angeles County Public Works after the county hearing officer ruled in favor of the landfill in an appeal.

On Feb. 20, Department of Public Works officials announced that Hearing Officer Rossana D’Antonio’s decision “is to rescind the Enforcement Order of Aug. 30, 2017 and any associated administrative penalties.”

“The company is pleased with the decision and appreciates the close attention of the hearing officer to the evidence and law,” James Little, senior vice president for engineering and disposal for Waste Connections, which owns and operates the landfill, said in a prepared statement.

Public Works issued the order at the time for what it determined to be delinquent fees totaling $5.13 million, alleging that Chiquita Canyon underpaid solid waste management fees as a result of failing to comply with reporting requirements involving “the quantity of beneficial reuse materials being received, processed and disposed at the (Chiquita Canyon Landfill)…,” according to the hearing officer’s six-page decision.

In her findings, she points out the disposal of clean soil at the landfill. She said fees are calculated for each landfill based on the amount of solid waste that is received, collected, conveyed or hauled. D’Antonio found that Chiquita Canyon did not dispose of clean soil at the landfill, which would have qualified for fee application. The landfill instead stored soil for daily cover and other practical uses at the locale.

The hearing officer also found that Public Works “failed to demonstrate its independent authority under the (Los Angeles County Code) or statute to reclassify clean soil as excessive beneficial reuse material, making it waste and subject to the (solid waste management fee).”

D’Antonio also rejected what the department called an “industry standard” 4:1 ratio for what constitutes excessive beneficial reuse and instead said it was “anything but arbitrary,” due to lack of evidence or testimony.

“This hearing officer recognizes that the operation of a landfill is dynamic and that waste-to-cover ratio determinations and calculations are not an exact science,” the decision reads.