Landfill expansion rejected over groundwater concerns

An attempted landfill expansion project in Southern California has met with an initial rejection from a water quality agency in the Golden State, according to a regional report.

The Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic, California, operated by Texas-based Waste Connections Inc., has been denied a permit to expand this month by Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board, according to the Los Angeles Daily News. Castaic is about 35 miles northwest of Los Angeles, in Los Angeles County.

According to the report, which cites a letter from the board, the agency “cited concerns about toxic leachate running down the landfill’s slopes and possibly contaminating underground drinking water supplies.”

Waste Connections applied for the Chiquita Canyon Landfill expansion in January of 2022.

In January, the landfill’s managers reached an agreement with the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) in Southern California regarding ways to address odor complaints from neighboring property owners.

The very next month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) pressed for more action from Waste Connections and Chiquita Canyon Landfill operators over the odors and what they considered hazardous liquid waste from a smoldering fire.

Now the March letter from the Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board represents another setback for the future of the nearly 640-acre landfill.

According to the Daily News report, the landfill takes in about 9,000 tons of municipal solid waste daily and has permitted capacity to take 12,000 tons daily.

That same report quotes a nearby resident approving of the rejection of the landfill expansion, saying, “Why would you add to an already deteriorating situation?”