L.A. Times: Local Landfills Hit by ‘Uncontrolled Chemical Reactions’

Los Angeles County’s largest landfills are suffering from uncontrolled chemical reactions underground that are heating the earth to very hot temperatures, melting equipment, and releasing noxious gases into the environment, the Los Angeles Times reports.

The report, by Tony Briscoe, says that the Chiquita Canyon landfill and the Sunshine Canyon landfill, both north of the city, are showing evidence of “highly unusual reactions” that involve bacterial reactions as well as chemical fires below the surface.

Briscoe writes:

The scorching temperatures within Chiquita Canyon Landfill have caused pressure to build inside the 639-acre facility and forced contaminated water to burst onto the surface.

Analyses by CalRecycle, the state agency that oversees solid waste and recycling facilities, described the situation as a “heating/ smoldering” event that has expanded in all directions since the summer. By November, the reaction area had grown by 30 to 35 acres, according to the agency.

…

Between October 2022 and March 2023, Sunshine Canyon recorded more than 55 inches of rain, almost four times the amount the site typically sees in a year. Then in August the site was hit by tropical storm Hilary, which brought an additional 5½ inches.

Officials say this precipitation filtered into the landfill, drenched decomposing garbage and created an ideal environment for the breeding of bacteria that release methane and smelly hydrogen sulfide.

Read Briscoe’s full article here.

Los Angeles is among the country’s leaders in other forms of waste management, such as recycling wastewater. Next week, state authorities will consider regulatory proposals to allow “toilet-to-tap” systems to purify sewage for reuse in drinking water systems.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the new biography, Rhoda: ‘Comrade Kadalie, You Are Out of Order’. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.