AQMD order calls for ‘stricter actions to reduce odors’  Despite garnering more than 25,000 complaints since January 2023, Chiquita Canyon Landfill continues to plague the skies surrounding Castaic, Val Verde and a growing area on the western edge of Santa Clarita with a putrid stench caused by a variety of ongoing problems.  And, as a result of the facility’s continued challenges in lessening the odors and addressing the root causes, the South Coast Air Quality Management District has issued more orders for the cleanup.  Thursday’s order for abatement is intended to “require Chiquita Canyon Landfill to take stricter actions to reduce odors that have been impacting the community for nearly two years,” according to an AQMD release.   Chiquita Canyon Landfill and its owner, Waste Connections, declined comment Thursday through John Musella, a spokesman for Chiquita Canyon.   The new requirements include expanded air monitoring, reduced equipment downtime, increased community access to air quality data, and reducing spills, leaks and the potential for equipment failures.  The tension between the landfill and the community particularly has increased in recent months over two areas of concerns, among many for residents: reports of a cancer cluster, over which L.A. County 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger recently authorized an independent Public Health study; and what residents contend is the landfill’s intentional lack of transparency for its resident-relocation program.  Officials for Waste Connections have repeatedly denied requests to provide information on how it determines aid for those affected, sharing a letter from its CEO saying the company considers it a privileged work product from its attorneys.   There’s also no serious consideration being given to an alternative program beyond the “significant support” that it’s already providing through the current program, according to the letter from CEO Ron Mittelstaedt dated Monday. The letter also was discussed at Tuesday’s Chiquita Canyon Landfill Community Advisory Committee.  The landfill and its neighbors also were in court Thursday to deal with thousands of lawsuits related to the smell, which the company still cannot explain or stop. In recent weeks, experts have said a subsurface incident such as the one at the landfill could take up to a decade to resolve.  Thursday’s order  The most recent order from the South Coast Air Quality Management District Hearing Board requires Chiquita Canyon Landfill to:   1. Ensure the giant flares that combust and control landfill gas are connected to permanent utility power and supported by emergency backup power — their downtime must not be conducted for three or more units at any one time except in rare cases.  2. Maintain equipment and improve procedures to avoid equipment breakdown that could result in increased emissions.  3. The leachate collection/storage tanks or liquid treatment tanks must not be overfilled; the landfill must also provide a webpage that will allow the public to access and download historical data reflecting all analytical results for the 24-hour time-integrated canister samples, continuous hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and methane monitoring data, and the hourly dimethyl sulfide (DMS) and volatile organic compounds (VOC) results for all air monitoring stations.   4. Submit a complete permit modification application to South Coast AQMD, by Jan. 31, 2025, to increase the landfill’s liquid storage capacity, including tanks and equipment and another application for each hazardous and non-hazardous liquid treatment system.   The last order indicates the leachate production, which was recently estimated at approximately 1 million gallons of the chemical each month at the facility, has not slowed. Landfill officials initially said they were hopeful production would decline by the start of this year.   Right now, the treated liquid, produced in a chemical reaction when rainwater filters through rotting trash and landfill gases, is being treated on site and then released to licensed treatment facilities under emergency permits from the state Department of Toxic Substances Control.  Lawsuits  A federal judge Thursday heard oral arguments in motions for 20 separate lawsuits with thousands of plaintiffs and dozens of lawyers who, in some cases, began their lawsuits over damages last year in L.A. County Superior Court.  Chiquita Canyon in November filed a motion to move the case to federal court, arguing on the grounds that jurisdictional issues for the Texas-based company, and the damages expected to be more than $5 million, made the move appropriate.  Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong listened to arguments on efforts to consolidate the cases as well as an effort by Waste Connections, which has operated the landfill since 2009, to dismiss the lawsuits.  A final ruling has not been issued, but a tentative ruling indicated the discussion of the issues that Frimpong is considering, pending her consideration of the oral arguments made Thursday. She could change or finalize her tentative ruling as early as Friday morning.   The order begins by stating a list of allegations from the family of Steven Howse’s civil complaint: that the reaction was first detected in May 2022, and in January 2023, the landfill shut down its giant flares, which help capture and lessen the impact from the elevated levels of sulfur and dimethyl sulfide.  The landfill was then given a variance that required the landfill to provide an analysis of the previous 12 months of landfill gas, which the landfill failed to do, while racking up tens of thousands of complaints over the smells, according to the complaint cited in Frimpong’s tentative ruling.  “Further investigation by various agencies also revealed that the landfill had issues with leachate collection, that leachate production had increased, and leachate seepage had occurred,” per Howse’s allegations. “Defendants had been required to maintain a leachate collection system, and defendants had not notified regulators of any issues.”  The allegations also include the landfill’s disclosure and disposal methods.  “Defendants had been required to maintain a leachate collection system, and defendants had not notified regulators of any issues,” the cited complaint continued. “Further, in order to deal with the leachate, defendants shipped leachate (which they knew contained toxic chemicals) to a company that did not have means to properly dispose of it.”  “After this, defendants stored the toxic leachate onsite and attempted to treat it themselves. Unable to handle it all, defendants illegally dumped some leachate into the Santa Clara River,” the Howse complaint alleges.  The landfill has repeatedly denied wrongdoing, including with respect to the dumping allegation, and said it is working with regulators to figure out the problems and try to lessen the impacts. A scrim covering the reaction area has been touted as a potential difference-maker for the smell, and is expected to be completed by the end of the month.  The first plaintiff to file, from Howse’s family, alleges they “suffered headaches, nosebleeds, respiratory issues, heart issues, and other health issues,” as the result of these conditions. Howse, who’s represented by Castaic Area Town Council member and attorney Oshea Orchid, filed suit in August 2023.  In addition to a decline in their home value, the Howse plaintiffs “were forced at times to remain inside and forgo use of the yards to avoid noxious odors and health effects,” according to the lawsuit.  The other 2,340 plaintiffs identified in court documents for the consolidated lawsuit identified similar claims.   The post Air officials increase orders for Chiquita; judge hears arguments  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.