Air pollution agency to require Castaic landfill to reduce its odors
A surge in community odor complaints has prompted the South Coast Air Quality Management District to take action to require the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic to reduce smells from the waste disposal site.
After the agency received hundreds of odor complaints in May, its investigation found the smells emanated from the landfill site, correlated with high levels of sulfur, specifically dimethyl sulfide in its landfill gas. Since the start of its investigation, South Coast AQMD has received more than 1,200 odor complaints.
The underlying cause of the odor has been linked to a subsurface chemical reaction. Landfill management said they share the agency's sense of urgency in addressing the odor concerns and are working on a short-term solution with a long-term plan being the goal.
"We have been working cooperatively with the landfill's various oversight and regulatory agencies including the County of Los Angeles and the SCAQMD," said Steve Cassulo, district manager of Chiquita Canyon Landfill.
Cassulo pointed out that last week, Chiquita launched a Local Resident Air Filter Program, offering nearby residents experiencing odors a California Air Resources Board-certified air filtration device for use in their home.
Local residents interested in receiving an air filtration device can request one using an online form located on the odor mitigation page of the Chiquita website, www.chiquitacanyon.com.
The landfill said on its website that the most likely source of the odors is an increase in the production of landfill gas, known as LFG.
"Chiquita believes this increase in LFG is due to an abnormal biotic or abiotic process, also known as a landfill reaction, taking place within a portion of the Landfill waste mass," the landfill company posted.
"This reaction is not the result of a fire or other combustion within the waste mass and is not related to current operations. We are currently implementing short-term odor mitigation efforts while we work with the appropriate government oversight and regulatory authorities to implement long-term solutions."