More than a dozen Val Verde and Castaic residents and community leaders came together on Tuesday, Dec. 17, to decry the “inaction and lack of concern” of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors around the public health emergency in the “diverse” community around the Chiquita Canyon Landfill operated by Waste Connections.

Residents claimed there is a “double standard in effect where the Board of Supervisors have called for a state of emergency for wealthy, heavily white communities, like Porter Ranch/Aliso Canyon, but not Chiquita Canyon.”

The community members protested at the Board of Supervisors meeting held at the Kenneth Hahn Hall of Administration on Temple Street in downtown Los Angeles.

“The community has been asking for over a year for the Board of Supervisors to allow for immediate relief that would come from a declaration of a state of emergency,” said Oshea Orchid, managing partner at Sethi Orchid Miner, LLP. “Val Verde and the surrounding area is a diverse community with residents that don’t have the financial resources to fight the multi-billion-dollar company Waste Connections and a County Board that seems to prioritize the wealthier, majority white communities of Porter Ranch and Malibu where a state of emergency have been called in hours and days. It will not be a very merry Christmas for many in Val Verde where a number of community members are suffering from cancer, breathing disorders, and children cannot attend school because of the toxic emissions.”

Orchid’s reference to Porter Ranch involves the Aliso Canyon massive methane leak in 2015 that resulted in a state of emergency being declared by Gov. Jerry Brown a month after the incident. Residents near Aliso Canyon have been working to get the gas storage facility closed for nearly a decade. Despite recent protests and petitions the California Public Utilities Commission voted on Thursday, Dec. 19 to approve a decision that could keep the Aliso Canyon gas storage facility open indefinitely.

The Franklin Fire in Malibu, which began on Monday, Dec. 9, resulted in a state of emergency being declared by L.A. County within 24 hours of the event.

Orchid is a Val Verde resident and an attorney who has represented residents who have filed claims against the county and Waste Connections, operators of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill.

At the Board of Supervisors meeting, Kailee Elkins, a student at Live Oak Elementary, spoke about how the fumes issuing from the Chiquita Canyon Landfill are affecting her life and the lives of other children in the area.

“We go outside for P.E., and I can feel the air is bad,” she said. “I get headaches and itchy skin, and a lot of people in my neighborhood have cancer. We need our schools to be moved somewhere safe”.

Organizers of the protest said in a press release “This protest marked a key turning point for efforts to shut down the Chiquita Canyon Landfill and protect the residents, families and children who are suffering from this environmental catastrophe. With numerous families pulling their children out of school on a regular basis as they are suffering from overwhelming illnesses.”

Residents are protesting that Chiquita Canyon has remained open despite being issued numerous violations from the U.S. EPA, CalEPA, AQMD and CalOSHA.

Several lawsuits have been filed against Chiquita Canyon in Federal Court.

On Dec. 16 the County Board of Supervisors announced a lawsuit had been filed in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, that alleged the landfill’s owners, Chiquita Canyon, LLC, Chiquita Canyon, Inc. and Waste Connections US, Inc., have failed to control a persistent and harmful underground smoldering reaction within the landfill, which has been emitting noxious odors, hazardous gases and toxic leachate into nearby communities and the environment for nearly two years.

The county’s complaint included claims for public nuisance, violations of the California Unfair Competition Law and violations of the Los Angeles County Code. The county is seeking an injunction to halt the noxious emissions and protect affected communities, orders to relocate nearby residents temporarily until the reaction is contained and civil penalties for the defendants’ ongoing violations of environmental and public health laws.

The landfill operator claims it has been working to remain in compliance with a Unilateral Administrative Order, issued by the United States Environmental Protection Agency, to implement dozens of corrective measures recommended by federal, state and local agencies to slow and eventually abate the smoldering. This includes the installation of more than 200 gas extraction wells, installation of multiple flares, leachate extraction systems, along with the installation of a geomembrane cover that will encompass the reaction area where the odors are emanating from.

While the landfill operator is nearing completion of the majority of these measures, local residents have indicated the odors and impacts have not been significantly abated.

Other lawsuits have also been filed on behalf of individuals and families that have claimed as a result of Chiquita Canyon, local families have endured prolonged exposure to dangerous gasses, including methane and benzene, resulting in symptoms including headaches, nausea, asthma, nosebleeds, heart palpitations, vomiting and cancer.

In October Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley in the State Assembly, called for a renewed bi-partisan call for a state of emergency to be declared by Gov. Gavin Newsom in regards to the Chiquita Canyon Landfill crises. To date that state of emergency declaration has not been issued.

Schiavo also stayed a night at a home in the area affected by the fumes emitted by the landfill and reported personally having experienced ill effects during her time at the home.