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Toxic Soup?

Now and Then in the SCV | Commentary by Darryl Manzer

Darryl Manzer | Thursday, Aug 7, 2014

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Had a chance to go to the west side of the SCV yesterday and the day before. Went over to Oxnard and back.

I love driving through our valley to the ocean. Orange and avocado trees and rows of colorful flowers, too. Don’t forget the various other “row crops” like strawberries. It is really a beautiful drive.

I’ve listened to the presentation by the Chiquita Canyon Landfill folks at least twice now, and I was thinking during the drive about what might be leaking into the groundwater from the dump. The oldest portion of the dump isn’t lined, while the newer parts are lined.

Do we know if the liner – a large sheet of plastic that could cover a battleship – is intact? No rips or tears? I wonder.

Are there any wells near the dump where groundwater can be monitored? If there are, what are the results? How about monitor wells in the Santa Clara River? Maybe they need a couple of them in Val Verde, too.

Has the state of California looked into the problems reported by residents? Isn’t it the job of the Val Verde Community Advisory Committee not only talk with the dump for the residents, but also take an active role in helping get the right folks to look into the problems of smell, and maybe get some health issues resolved? That committee gets $20,000 a year for what exactly?

I stopped at one of the fruit stands just east of Fillmore and bought some local produce. Oranges and avocados. Strawberries, too. Now I’m wondering, is this stuff safe to eat? The fruit orchards pump water from wells near the river. Are those trees being watered with bad water? Same with the strawberries. What do we know?

Do we need the federal EPA to look into the smells and upset stomachs that people near the dump experience every day?

The company that operates the dump has done some strange things – trying to convince a community the air and water quality near the dump are good when there is little evidence to prove it.

Then there is the little matter of the Val Verde Community Advisory Committee being funded by the company it is supposed to be watching for the community. It just seems strange.

The last agreement stated that the dump would be closed when filled to a stated level, or by a date in 2019. Now they want an extension and to expand the size of the dump? When are they going to follow the first agreement?

I slowed and then stopped on the shoulder of Highway 126 near the entrance of the dump. I wonder how many toxins are running under the road to the river? We just don’t know.

Have you ever wondered how many more stories of thin plastic liners that don’t leak, contaminated water not reaching the river or community, we’ll have to endure?

We’ve grown used to believing the big lies of companies and government. The high-speed train will be less expensive and faster than a plane. It can be profitable, too.

Health insurance will be available to all at lower rates, and you get to keep your doctors and the health insurance policy you like.

Hamas is a humanitarian organization.

Let’s tackle the landfill first. What is going in to our river? Do you want that water to irrigate the crops you eat? Let’s get the EPA involved. We need some impartial truth here. Not another paid spokesperson for the company that owns the landfill.

While we’re at it, let’s get a real advocacy committee. All the members shall be from Val Verde and all of them wanting to be real advocates of their friends and neighbors.

Before the expansion can even be considered, we need to know how far the toxic soup from the dump has spread.

Oh – while we’re at it, could the Castaic Area Town Council please keep out of this? They’ve been little concerned with Val Verde for years. Now they only want some of the money the dump pays out to Val Verde.

That wouldn’t be fair. That wouldn’t be right.

But hey, trash pays well.

Darryl Manzer grew up in the Pico Canyon oil town of Mentryville in the 1960s and attended Hart High School. After a career in the U.S. Navy he returned to live in the Santa Clarita Valley. He can be reached at dmanzer@scvhistory.com and his commentaries are archived at DManzer.com. Watch his walking tour of Mentryville [here].

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12 Comments

msc545 says:

Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 at

You’ve made some good points. Frightening ones, too, but very important.

Reply
Abigail DeSesa says:

Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 at

Good morning Darryl,
Happy to see you have not forgotten us. Here are a few tips about that plastic liner you are talking about. The one we have been told will never fail.

This link shows photos of Chiquita’s liner after the earthquake.
http://faculty.engineering.asu.edu/kavazanjian/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Indispensable-Role-of-Case-Histories.pdf

It does not take a scientist to see that is torn, and we live in a known earthquake region – it will happen again. Heck, USGS warns us we are overdue.

Google key words like – 1994 Earthquake Liner Chiquita Canyon Landfill

Plenty of fun articles about how it did fail. My question is, what did they do about the liner already buried that they could not see if it failed or not?

I think you have a good point that we may be eating our landfill in our strawberries along the 126 …

Reply
Jennifer Fischer says:

Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 at

Thanks for continuing to highlight this issue and raise important questions that absolutely need answers.

Reply
Steve Lee says:

Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 at

Thank you! Finally someone is hearing us.

Member of the VVCA
Val Verde Community Association.

Reply
Jaime Briano says:

Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 at

Great points. The VVCAC should change its name.
When you are interviewed as a candidate
to be part of this committee , you are told
by a county official what you can and can
not say. Hardly an advisory committee.
How can you be appointed to advise a
community you don’t live in.So far this
board has used their money to pay for
their dinners at the a Embassy Suites.Oh
ya, they purchase magnets for our
refrigerators that remind us when free dump
day is. Members of this board should be
elected by the residents, not hand picked
by someone from Antonoviche’s office.

Reply
SCVdad33 says:

Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 at

Woooowsers… If you’ve listened to the landfill presentation at least twice, you would know that they are regulated and monitored by more than 2 dozen local/state/federal agencies and that there are more than 3 dozen groundwater monitoring wells around the landfill to ensure there aren’t all these “problems” you make wild assumptions about. Your “opinions” belong in the fiction section.

Reply
- SCVNews.com says:
  
  Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 at
  
  To SCVdad33 – We’ve received complaints. In the future, please disclose your name in compliance with the posted rules for this forum.
  
  Reply
Abigail DeSesa says:

Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 at

Please look at the photographs of the torn liner. Respectfully, there are no wild assumptions there.

Everyone should have the right to their opinion and being polite is important for the healthy exchange of ideas as well as facts.

Darryl, I thought you were required to identify yourself on this comment section? I was and yet SCVdad33 is not identified.

Val Verde does not have even a tiny percent of the equipment looking after our neighboring landfill – Sunshine Canyon. A simple question – why are Val Verde residents (directly) and the entire population of the Santa Clarita Valley not important enough to have this kind of protection? I ask this question to be considered respectfully.
Thank you.

Reply
ValVerde Research says:

Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 at

SCVdad33… send us a source on your findings please. I’ve seen a few red flags in what I’ve read on how long it has been since it was monitored. You may however have a better source which is why I’m asking you to share where you are getting your information. Not challenging it, just want to see it too. :)

Reply
Steve Lee says:

Thursday, Aug 7, 2014 at

If you read all the things that Chiquita Canyon does everyday to avoid smells, you will think, “Wow they are really trying.” But, after looking at other landfills and you will find they do the bare minimum. After talking to the AQMD and you will really know how little they do. They are the last landfill that use fans and misters that run on gas. They have to be filled every four hours. The problem is that everyone leaves the landfill at nights. So Val Verde gets in-dated with stench. The president of the Santa Clarita Town Cancel calls them good neighbors, but when Chiquita Canyon was asked why they do not have electric fans, their reply was, “That would cost us a fortune.”
I personally, as a good neighbor, make sure my trash smells to not drift into my neighbors yard.

Reply
Greg Kimura says:

Monday, Aug 11, 2014 at

Vanessa,

Instead of worrying about spelling, we would like you to look into the torn liner issue, sludge, auto shred testing, odor complaints and what is in the leachate. If it’s in the leachate, that means they took in something they shouldn’t have?

Can you focus on these issues, which is your job as the VVCAC President.

Thank you.

Greg

Reply
- Greg Kimura says:
  
  Friday, Aug 15, 2014 at
  
  For the record, I have send the VVCAC a number of requests to look into complaints I’ve received from residents of Val Verde and some of my own concerns.
  
  The CATC meeting has no relevance to the official duties of the VVCAC, that being the liaison between the community, the landfill and the LA Dept of Regional Planning.
  
  No game here, I am speaking up for the residents of Val Verde, who have concerns and directing these concerns to the responsible organization.
  
  Reply

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