The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has issued violations for excessive toxic air emissions against the troubled Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic.
The violations notice, sent to Chiquita Canyon LLC, and its parent company, Waste Connections, on June 4, says the landfill operators are violating the federal Clean Air Act and their operating permit by emitting high levels of toxic gases such as benzene and smog-precursors known as volatile organic compounds that contribute to the formation of ozone — a lung-damaging component of dirty air.
This marks the first time the EPA has issued a violation against the operators of the Castaic landfill. The municipal waste landfill has been the subject of 7,000 odor complaints by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), plus dozens of violation notices from the air agency in the past year. Violations were also cited by CalEPA, the state Department of Toxic Substance Control and the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board.
The landfill operators “failed to maintain and operate air pollution control equipment in a manner consistent with good air pollution control practice for minimizing emissions,” the EPA said in its violation notice. The letter was addressed to Steve Cassulo, district manager of Chiquita Canyon Landfill, 29201 Henry Mayo Drive, Castaic.
Cassulo did not return a phone call and a voice mail message on Monday, June 10.
For more than a year, a subsurface smoldering far beneath an older part of the site has heated up the liquid leachate and extraction pumps to 145 degrees Fahrenheit, causing the hot leachate to overwhelm the removal systems and flow into the nearby river — which state, local and now federal agencies have reported caused the escape of emissions. That resulted in strong odors in nearby communities and made residents sick, forcing many to remain indoors, and some students at a nearby school were kept out of classes.
Residents from Val Verde, Castaic, Live Oak and…
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