Landfill's Toxic Past Concerns Residents

The Chapter’s South Bay Open Space Task Force wants to see three steps taken to protect homes adjacent to the Palos Verdes Landfill. So far, regulatory agencies have been unresponsive to the task force’s concerns, and the task force would like your help to reach out to decision-makers.

The Palos Verdes Landfill was first opened in 1952—two decades before the U.S. EPA was established. The landfill received more than 47 billion pounds of hazardous waste well before it was shutdown in 1980—before the federal and state government established adequate safety and environmental standards for how landfills should be operated.

The landfill poses health and safety risks to nearby homes. The agency that now runs the landfill, the Los Angeles County Sanitation District, and the agency which oversees these operations, the California Department of Toxic Substance Control, have largely turned a deaf ear to concerns voiced by the Sierra Club and residents over the past decade.

Under contemporary federal standards, the landfill lacks a liner and cap, both long required by the EPA. These measures help confine toxic and materials, minimizing toxic runoff and fumes. California law enacted in the 1980s requires a 2000-foot buffer zone around landfills.

Such a buffer further helps protect residences from chemicals and bacteria that can be released by a landfill. Unfortunately, in some sections, the only buffer is a 10- to 15-foot wide service road separating the landfill from homes.

Originally the site of a diatomaceous earth mine, the underground, honeycombed tunnels used by the mine were left in place when it was abandoned and landfill operations began. Though some of these tunnels were later removed, not all were. The remaining tunnels pose a concern for migration of toxic waste in the landfill.

A bright spot in the landfills operation began in 1975 when a Getty subsidiary opened a pioneering system using pipes to collect methane gas produced by the landfill and sold it to the Southern California Gas Company. In 1985, these operations were taken over by the sanitation district. Since 1986, a new energy center built on the site provided enough energy to power 10,000 homes according to the sanitation district. Together, gas and energy sales brought more than $25 million in revenue to the district.

In October 2011, the county shutdown the last vestige of the gas to energy collection system. Installation of one new flare at the landfill relies on six antique back up flares built in the 1970s to burn off gasses.

The old flares exceed cancer risk guidelines set by the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Since toxic gasses released by the landfill may be odorless, the task force proposes three safety requirements to ensure the public health and safety:

• a 24-hour, on-site staff trained in the oversight of the facility,
• a carbon monoxide monitor to detect landfill fires, a common occurrence on landfills,
• a continuous ambient air monitoring to cover other air quality issues.

The landfill is far out-of-compliance with modern standards. That’s why the task force believes these modest and prudent requests of the sanitation district should put in place as quickly as possible. You can help by contacting Joan Davidson or Chapter conservation coordinator Jennifer Robinson.