The U.S. Environmental Safety Company on Thursday ordered operators of the Chiquita Canyon landfill to “take quick motion to guard human well being and the surroundings” on the Castaic stable waste website.
Final 12 months, residents of communities surrounding the 639-acre Chiquita Canyon landfill filed almost 7,000 complaints to the South Coast Air High quality Monitoring District about well being impacts brought on by noxious odors and air pollution. poisonous runoff.
Complaints included eye irritation, respiratory signs and pores and skin issues.
SCAQMD constantly traced odors to the landfill and response space and ordered that the supply of the contaminants be disclosed and monitoring carried out. Removing of pollution and cleanliness of air and soil weren’t addressed.
Thursday's EPA order requires landfill operators to mitigate off-site group impacts and include and cut back smoldering combustion or response occasions that happen on the landfill.
“This order displays EPA's dedication to making sure that landfill operators mitigate noxious odors and adjust to federal legislation to stop public publicity to hazardous waste,” mentioned Martha Guzmán, EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator.
“As we speak's order is the results of native, state and federal collaboration to higher defend the well being of close by residents in addition to the encompassing surroundings.”
The company additional said that the supply of the complaints is an elevated temperature response or underground burning on the landfill that started in Might 2022 and has grown in dimension and impression.
As of January 17, 2024, the response space was positioned roughly 1,000 toes from the closest resident.
The EPA mentioned leachate leaking from the response space incorporates elevated ranges of benzene, a hazardous substance that may change into airborne or contaminate water. In response to the company, leachate manufacturing elevated as a result of underground response and landfill operators didn’t correctly handle it as hazardous waste by not correctly treating, storing or disposing of it.
On November 30, 2023, native, state, and federal companies fashioned a multi-agency vital motion workforce to deal with environmental and human well being impacts brought on by deteriorating situations on the Chiquita Canyon Landfill.
The order issued by EPA in coordination with the multi-agency workforce requires Chiquita Canyon LLC to adjust to the legislation and correctly handle the remedy and disposal of hazardous waste and take measures to mitigate odors emanating from the landfill.