SCVNews.com | Opinion/Commentary: Good Neighbors?

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Good Neighbors?

Commentary by Steve Lee

Steve Lee | Tuesday, Feb 16, 2016

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Some neighbors are good by habit. Something deep within them just drives them to be a good neighbor. Others have to practice at being a good neighbor. And lastly, some have to be nudged.

If you are a big corporation, you might have to be nudged by legal agencies. Some of the nudging might be in the form of fines or write-ups for violations. Fines usually just mean pennies to a big corporation.

Here in Val Verde, we have a good neighbor that sits 800 feet from some of the residents. The good neighbor is known as the Chiquita Canyon Landfill.

As many of you might know, many Val Verde residents are fighting to stop the expansion of the landfill. Val Verde has a contract that says the landfill is to stop at a certain tonnage, or on a certain date, whichever comes first. There is a clause in the contract that says nothing in this contract shall stop the closure.

There is a catch, however, in the same contract: It says they can ask for an expansion. Well, they have asked for that expansion. The landfill is currently at the ridge level on the west-sitting ridge, which means odors are not always under their control. Of course Val Verde would like a promise to be kept.

Promise? There is an interesting word. Val Verde receives mitigation fees from the landfill. There are promises written for both parties. Val Verde can spend the money only on certain programs, while the landfill will not take certain substances.

It has already been proven that the contract was in violation when they took sludge. If one side cannot keep a contract, then why should it be renewed?

If a company endangers the citizens who live nearby, then it should not be allowed to expand. End of story.

I am sure most readers remember the big explosion in Santa Paula, with dangerous chemicals. Well, 11 people were indicted in that explosion. You might ask what that has to do with this landfill. Well, it has more to do with it than you might think.

According to the Office of Inspector General of the Department of Transportation, the morning of the explosion, Santa Clara Waste Water Co. “also disposed of hazardous waste via … trailers to the Chiquita Canyon Landfill” even though “(they were not) approved for the disposal of hazardous waste.”

These trucks were there the morning of the explosion. How many trucks before that day? How many days, months, years? We now know the cleanup from this disaster sits in our landfill.

This is not the first time Val Verde has become aware of dangerous substances in our landfill. We have cried, screamed, begged and pleaded at all of the councils that would let us speak. They have all grown silent. Why so silent? Well, it appears our good neighbor has offered money to many political campaigns, or money to organizations, or to entire towns to get their approval.

Meanwhile, the town of Val Verde could be getting poisoned. Not only does the town of Val Verde lie within the 2-mile danger zone; so does Live Oaks, Hasley Hills, Travel Village and the entire Newhall Ranch development of 21,000 homes to be built across from the landfill. The only thing separating them is the four lanes of Highway 126.

Santa Clarita has among the lowest reported air quality when compared to all of Los Angeles County. The Santa Clarita City Council wants to investigate the air because they think the Porter Ranch gas leak might be affecting us due to wind patterns. For years they have known about the dangerous substances of our landfill, and yet no air test. Why? Well, many of the City Council members have taken money from the landfill for their political races.

Val Verde stands alone in the fight with the landfill, but we do not stand alone in the air we breathe. That same air is circulated all over the Santa Clarita Valley.

The question is: When will we demand more for our friends, neighbors and families? We deserve better than a landfill that cannot or will not run a safe landfill free of toxic and deadly substances.

Steve Lee is a resident of Val Verde.

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10 Comments

Susie Evans says:

Tuesday, Feb 16, 2016 at

Look at these documents…
https://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/32650

http://www.vcreporter.com/cms/story/detail/the_hazardous_truth/13528/

Eye opening of what is really going on.

Reply
Dana DeWit says:

Tuesday, Feb 16, 2016 at

I want to thank Steve Lee and Susie Evans for providing us with this important information. Comes a time when a landfill is FULL and it is time to move on. The Bradley Landfill in Sun Valley closed after 50 years in operation. Chiquita Canyon Landfill has been in operation for over 40 years and expansion is not the answer given the growth and future growth of this city. There should be disclosure statements given to all future homeowners buying property off the 126.

Reply
Martha Simmonds says:

Wednesday, Feb 17, 2016 at

I want to also thank Steve Lee for protecting our community by telling people the truth about what the reality is with the Chiquita Canyon Landfill. My husband worked on the orignal contract with the landfill. They made binding agreements with the community and the county that seem to have been blatantly ignored, agreements that endanger our communities. The news about Santa Clara Waste Water Co is frightening. This may be only tip of the iceberg of the breeches of the contract to our community and the long term environmental impact to the entire Castaic/Santa Clarita Valleys.

Reply
Abigail says:

Wednesday, Feb 17, 2016 at

So…what were trucks heading to Chiquita Landfill even doing there? Did these items in fact go to this landfill? If the items at this facility were not permitted to ever go to this landfill it does not make sense that they were there in the first place.

Thank you for printing Mr. Lee’s commentary SCVNEWS, and for helping bring some very important questions that need to be addressed to light.

Reply
Susie Evans says:

Wednesday, Feb 17, 2016 at

Correct me if I am wrong, did I hear they are inditing Gas Co officials for the leak? They indited the officials of the Santa Paula company that blew up two years ago. Do we have to wait for the dump to blow up because of the illegal things they are taking in before someone listens to us?

Reply
Steve says:

Thursday, Feb 18, 2016 at

Abigail, from what I am finding out, the entire clean up afterwards also went to this landfill. The EPA sent it all there. That baffles me. The place that is violating the contract, the same contract the EPA should be enforcing, receives all the waste they are not supposed to be taking. What?

Reply
Mr. Val Verde says:

Thursday, Feb 18, 2016 at

Newhall Land & Farming: Imagine the possible lawsuits from new owners in the new home developments, just across the highway (126) from this menace landfill (that you once owned). Better insure that all new home owners are FULLY aware of this landfill, before they buy a home.

Reply
Steven says:

Thursday, Feb 18, 2016 at

Not to defend the landfill in any way but, if they did not know the materials were hazardous as the company that was sending them is being indited for falsifying their paperwork. Very different than the sludge they took which was correctly labeled. Then the landfill could claim innocence here….

Reply
Steve says:

Friday, Feb 19, 2016 at

Steven that would be a good defense, except for the definition of sludge, by their own mother company is who you take it from. One definition of sludge by landfill definition is anything from a water treatment plant. And that is the catch, sludge is not what the average person thinks sludge is, it is exactly what this plants bi-products are. The definition is on Waste Connections own web site.

Reply
Steve says:

Friday, Feb 19, 2016 at

SLUDGE: Any solid, semi-solid, or liquid waste generated from a municipal, commercial, or industrial wastewater treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility, exclusive of the treated effluent from a wastewater treatment plant.

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