California landfill operator reaches agreement on noxious odors

Operators of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic, California, have reached an agreement with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) to address noxious odors, ABC7 reports.

The agreement will allow the landfill to continue to operate, but requires operator Waste Connections Inc., based in The Woodlands, Texas, to reveal the source of pollutants and allow monitoring of any pollution.

The source of the odor is believed to be a product of dimethyl sulfide, which is creating sulfuric odors that can spread more than several miles in the air. Additionally, leachate is leaking and puddling at the landfill, creating pollutants. According to the report, landfill officials with Waste Connections told the Air Quality Management South Coast District Hearing Board that drilling would be required to address the odors.

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Chiquita Canyon is a 639-acre landfill providing service for California’s Santa Clarita Valley and surrounding Los Angeles communities. SCAQMD had received more than 7,000 complaints and issued 112 violation notices to the landfill since 2023, according to the story.

The agreement includes monitoring and reporting guidelines for the landfill to follow, including installing community monitors, creation of a website to report real-time results from that monitoring, and putting in place an oversight process for the landfill’s committee.