Chiquita Canyon, CA Hosts First Forum on Landfill Problems

SEATTLE (Waste Advantage): Blaming the problem on Chiquita Canyon Landfill’s previous operators, Steve Cassulo, district manager for the landfill’s current operator, Waste Connections, said he’s working as fast as possible to resolve the smell issue that’s been plaguing Castaic and Val Verde residents.  While the landfill is currently awaiting the processing of a years-old request for a permit to operate a flare that’s supposed to help, Cassulo said the landfill was also working on a number of ways to mitigate the smell in the meantime.

“We understand the community has experienced heightened levels of odors. We want you all to know that it is doing everything in its power to reduce odors that may be coming from the landfill,” he said in his opening remarks of a community forum on the issue. Residents who said Thursday the smells have caused everything from headaches to nausea and nosebleeds — symptoms, they say, that don’t appear when they leave home for long stretches and return when they do — pressed for a timeline for the fix.

“It’s a big window at this point in time because there’s a lot of moving parts,” Cassulo said, mentioning the wait from the South Coast Air Quality Management District. “The power plant is running at full speed ahead right now along with our (temporary) flares. We’re looking for another portable unit to add more vacuum to this and the more vacuum we can get on the system, the quicker it’ll alleviate the issue,” he told about 60 or 70 community members who listened in on the call. “So, again, it’s not going to happen overnight. It’s going to be … a month or so before we can get more of this thing fixed. And we’re going to do the best we can to keep eliminating the odors as much as possible in that time period.”

Courtesy: www.wasteadvantagemag.com