Castaic residents allege harmful emissions from landfill in lawsuit

Castaic residents contend in a lawsuit that they have been sickened by noxious fumes and odors emanating from the Chiquita Canyon Landfill, according to court papers obtained Friday.

The suit, filed this week in Los Angeles federal court, alleges landfill owner-operator Waste Connections negligently and recklessly operated the site, resulting in serious harm to residents.

On Thursday, a L.A. County supervisor and the public health director asked for assistance to evaluate claims by Castaic residents that the Chiquita Canyon site has led to a cluster of cancer cases.

A Waste Connections representative did not immediately respond to a request for comment from City News Service.

According to the lawsuit, residents allege the company failed to properly manage the landfill's gas capture, control systems and leachate systems. Leachate is a polluted liquid that forms from rainwater filtering through solid waste.

The alleged failure caused the emission of elevated and harmful levels of carbon monoxide, hydrogen sulfide and volatile organic gases, creating unsafe living conditions for thousands of residents, the lawsuit says.

This year alone, there have been 13,000 odor complaints about the landfill, according to plaintiffs' attorneys. Residents have reported headaches, nausea, respiratory issues and the inability to enjoy use of their properties due to the offensive smells, the suit states.

"If the landfill operator had taken proper action in maintaining its gas and leachate capture and control systems, community residents would not be suffering the alarming ailments they are now experiencing," plaintiffs' attorney Todd Becker said in a statement.

Thursday, Supervisor Kathryn Barger and county Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer sent a joint letter to the L.A. County Cancer Surveillance Program to evaluate the situation.

"Since this crisis began, I have led our county's efforts to provide real-time response and action to the impacted communities," Barger said in a statement. "Residents in Val Verde, Castaic and surrounding neighborhoods deserve real solutions. I will continue to take every concern seriously and remain committed to investigating all concerns raised by the community."

A group of residents held a news conference Tuesday saying toxic fumes from the troubled landfill has led to a cluster of cancer cases. Residents have long complained about ailments such as headaches, burning eyes, rashes and nausea due to the landfill.

The South Coast Air Quality Management District has issued abatement orders at the site, but residents say the issues are persisting.

Assemblywoman Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, said previously that seven people have been diagnosed on a single street of 14 homes in the area, and one of those people has died.

Landfill officials have said odors from the facility are due to "an abnormal biotic or abiotic process, also known as a landfill reaction, taking place deep within a lined but older and inactive portion of the landfill waste mess."

The L.A. County Cancer Surveillance Program was created in 1972 and is operated by the Keck School of Medicine at USC.

"The concerns regarding cancer clusters are serious," Barger and Ferrer wrote in the letter to the program. "Identifying increases in cancer cases and ... causes can be challenging. Given your expertise in analyzing cancer trends, we believe your insights will be invaluable."