Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, along with members from County Public Health and Public Works, hosted a virtual press conference Wednesday to provide an update on the Chiquita Canyon Landfill odor incident impacting Castaic and neighboring communities.

Chiquita Canyon Landfill is a 639-acre landfill located in the Santa Clarita Valley that is privately owned and operated by Chiquita Canyon, LLC. Due to an ongoing odor incident that is impacting the local community, Los Angeles County – at the direction of the Board of Supervisors – has sought assistance from state agencies, including CalRecycle, (the state agency that regulates waste-management and recycling programs) and the South Coast Air Quality Management District, to determine an independent analysis of what is causing the odors, expedite approval of mitigative measures and direct implementation of those measures by the landfill operator.

On Sept. 7, the South Coast Air Quality Management District Hearing Board approved an Order for Abatement that required the Chiquita Canyon Landfill to take actions to reduce odors from the landfill that have impacted the community.

Findings from CalRecycle’s technical review conclude that the odors from the landfill are being caused by a heating, smoldering incident that is happening in the older part of the landfill. CalRecyle also recommended a number of mitigation measures.

“To address and diminish odors, this will require the landfills operator, and our regulatory partners such as the south coast air quality management district to work together to implement the recommended mitigations,” said Barger, whose Fifth District includes the Santa Clarita Valley.

Those measures include:

– repair cracks and soil cover in and around the reaction settlement area

– placing a minimum cover of 24 inches of soil over the reaction area

– replacing wells that may have been damaged blocked or that have gas temperatures that are exceeding 145 degrees Fahrenheit with steel wells

– installing additional steel wells in the reaction settlement area

– installing temperature, monitoring devices in, and around the reaction settlement area and in designing

– installing a temporary geo membrane cover over the reaction settlement area.

Los Angeles County will also retain an independent health consultant who will conduct a thorough analysis on the short and long term health impacts of the odor incident.

To view the press conference in full, click [here].