Copyright Santa Clarita Valley Signal
After months of debate from the multi-agency task force working on Chiquita Canyon Landfill, a state official finally commented on health problems residents have been facing — with an acknowledgement that they still have more study to do, despite years of complaints. The discussion at the Oct. 14 Chiquita Canyon Landfill Community Advisory Committee meeting confirmed what many Castaic and Val Verde residents have been complaining about since early 2023 when the complaints began. “We’ve been arguing about this among the … various agencies working on this, and I think I’ve come back at least three different times and said, ‘Oh, we’re still working on this,’” said Todd Sax, chief of the enforcement division for the California Air Resources Board, who’s leading the group of county, state and federal agencies working on the landfill’s problem. “Well, we’ve batted this around and our best estimate of the public health impact and their causes here is that it is caused by odorous compounds,” he said. “Odorous compounds can cause serious irritation. It can cause bloody noses, it can cause headaches, it can even cause tremors,” he said. “All of these things are consistent with those types of exposure, and we would expect that when odors go away — I mean sorry, when people go away from the odors — that they will feel better. And when they come back, they would feel worse.” He said it’s also likely “sensitized” some residents who are now possibly able to detect some of the odors at lower levels than most. He also didn’t address claims of cancer clusters from residents, which is also part of the claims from thousands of residents in litigation right now. Sax’s statements could figure into the lawsuits now being filed by Los Angeles County and thousands of residents against Chiquita Canyon Landfill and its parent entity, Waste Connections. The landfill announced in February it was ending its relief fund amid claims the problems were getting better, which prompted Los Angeles County to also file suit against the landfill to seek relief for residents. The landfill’s claims run contrary to the claims of state officials who’ve said the reaction area for the landfill’s “underground elevated temperature event” is growing and may have doubled in size based on its data. Landfill regulators also said at the meeting that the problem is still producing about 200,000 gallons of leachate every day. The situation presents several challenges to the landfill’s neighbors, not the least of which is that despite the landfill’s public claims and court arguments, all sides have acknowledged that no one is sure what is causing the event or when it will end. Any court relief for residents is facing delays through an appeals process that’s already started. And there are some unknowns about the potential health concerns, which Sax also discussed. Remaining unknowns “When we’re telling you it’s noxious odors, we’re not in any way trying to minimize your symptoms,” Sax said during his talk, “we’re just telling you what our best estimate is of what’s causing those symptoms.” He said that’s coming from months of “having batted that around” with L.A. County Public Health, including with medical doctors. He also said the conversations have prompted state officials to look further into things, but they don’t yet have the data they need to make any additional determinations. “That being said, we did go back and take a look at, what pollutants are we monitoring, and should we be looking for more,” he said. Sax said one thing the Air Quality Management District did in late 2024 was a series of “grab samples,” essentially gas collections in stainless steel canisters, one-hour collections taken during “level 5 odor events.” Those tests are designed to create a fuller sampling, and did not detect anything “that jumped out and needed to be added” to the monitoring, he said. He also said it doesn’t mean they have a comprehensive understanding, nor could they measure it all. “What we can tell you is that we think we’re monitoring for the right things,” he said, “and we’re kind of at the state of what health risk assessment can and can’t tell us.” He said he understood the demand for studies on what the holistic effects are from constant exposure to the pollutants, but he didn’t think that was something that was “scientifically, reasonably possible.” He also said the AQMD is assessing its testing accuracy for acrolein, a carcinogen that’s highly noxious, which is very irritating at low concentrations and something that’s been detected. The agency is developing a “full confidence” in its detection levels, he said, which it doesn’t have yet. He also acknowledged the agency was contracting for the testing for PFAS, or per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, which is not something the state has labs capable of testing, he said. PFAS, which are known as cancer-causing “forever chemicals,” called such because they don’t biodegrade, already represent an expensive problem for the Santa Clarita Valley’s local water supply. Sax also didn’t have answers for residents when they pressed him about why there are lingering questions and no definitive community health survey, which residents have been asking for and has yet to take place. “There were requests for a (Community Assessment for Public Health Emergency Response) study on that point,” he said. “The county considered that request and they decided to do the survey that they did, and we’ve been using the results from that survey to try to inform the analyses that we’re doing.” When pressed for “who’s they,” by audience members inside the Castaic Library, Sax responded, “I don’t know the answer to that question, all I know of the answer is the various agencies.” He said the community conducted a CASPER study and came up with “a bunch of results,” because he said the results were based on some data that indicated the problems may be related to the landfill, but prior to the recent problems. Sax said the focus remains on limiting people’s exposure and making the area safer for people, and he didn’t think at this point that scientists were going to be able to identify a single problem that was plaguing residents; it was likely multiple concerns. Court cases In updating residents on the status of the legal fight, Stephanie English, a field representative for L.A. County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, said she remains optimistic, while relaying updates on the delays facing residents in search of relief. “The judge ruled in the county’s favor, she did ask for the parties to come to an agreement within 30 days,” English said. The county had asked for residents of 900 homes to be relocated and the judge wanted the two sides to meet and confer on that, English said, adding the landfill responded to the discussion by filing an appeal that asked the judge to pause her ruling. “So, we are waiting to hear back from the court,” English said. “We hope and believe that (Judge Maame Frimpong) will finish her work and complete her ruling and rule in our favor, is what we’re hoping for, to continue this process to relocate or home-harden for residents.” English said there are “two points of action” in front of the court: The first is to decide if she’ll agree with Chiquita’s appeal; the second is a determination of how many residents will benefit from the home-hardening (funds) and what that might look like.
