Facility Investigations: Chiquita Canyon Landfill

Chiquita Canyon Landfill

Physical Address: 29201 Henry Mayo Dr., Castaic, CA 91384

Air District: South Coast Air Quality Management District

Facility Description

Chiquita Canyon Landfill is a 639-acre landfill that provides the surrounding Los Angeles communities with waste disposal services. It is located in Castaic, California, approximately 3 miles west of Interstate 5 on State Route 126 in the Santa Clarita Valley. It is owned and operated by Waste Connections, an integrated solid waste services company, and has been operating for about 50 years.

Chiquita Canyon Landfill has been the source of thousands of odor complaints received by the South Coast Air Quality Management District (South Coast AQMD). The increase in odor complaints began in April 2023 and South Coast AQMD inspectors traced the odors back to the Chiquita Canyon Landfill. It has since been determined that a subterranean chemical reaction causing elevated temperatures beneath the surface of the landfill is increasing odors in an older closed section of the landfill. The landfill has been served with orders to mitigate the air impacts emanating from the landfill, including an Abatement Order from South Coast AQMD that includes requirements to monitor and control emissions from the landfill.

CARB’s Role

CARB is actively supporting the efforts of the lead federal, state, and local agencies involved to ensure that Chiquita Canyon Landfill expedites resolution of the nuisance odors its operations are causing in the local area. CARB’s Landfill Methane Regulation (LMR, Title 17 California Code of Regulations sections 95460-95476) requires the Chiquita Canyon Landfill (a Title V facility under the federal Clean Air Act) to install and operate a gas collection and control system, monitor landfill gasses, and maintain records. While CARB has broad oversight and support responsibilities for California’s 35 local air district enforcement programs, stationary sources of air pollution are directly overseen by the local air districts, which in the case of Chiquita Canyon is the South Coast AQMD. CARB is providing regulatory and enforcement support to South Coast as the lead agency for air-related issues.

CARB also is a member of a multi-agency critical action team (MCAT) comprised of federal, state and local agencies dedicated to addressing concerns raised about the operations and overall state of the landfill. Members of the MCAT include U.S. Environmental Protection Agency; California Environmental Protection Agency; California Air Resources Board; CalRecycle; California Department of Toxic Substances Control; Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board; South Coast Air Quality Management District; and the Los Angeles County Departments of Public Works, Public Health, and Planning.

For more information on Chiquita Canyon Landfill, visit:

Please submit any air quality complaints related to the Chiquita Canyon Landfill to South Coast AQMD with location information/address and the timing of the observed issue. Complaints can be submitted to South Coast AQMD at 1-800-CUT-SMOG (1-800-288-7664) or via South Coast AQMD’s online complaint report form for investigation. The data gained through complaints is important for the team as a means of tracking trends at the landfill and gaining insight on whether mitigation measures are providing resolution.