ACTIVISTS ACCUSE DUMP OF VIOLATIONS : CHIQUITA CANYON DUMP ACCUSED OF VIOLATIONS.Byline: Sherry Joe Crosby Daily News Staff Writer A Washington, D.C.-based environmental group is demanding that state officials enforce waste laws at the Chiquita Canyon Landfill where runoff threatens to contaminate con·tam·i·nate v. 1. To make impure or unclean by contact or mixture. 2. To expose to or permeate with radioactivity. con·tam·i·nant n. the Santa Clara River Santa Clara River may refer to:
Clean Water Action sent a letter Aug. 1 to the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, accusing landfill operator Laidlaw Waste Systems, Inc. of violating waste laws by accepting liquid sludge and toxins and exceeding the dump's height limitation. If the regional board fails to enforce the law, the group threatens to take its case to the state board by Sept. 30. ``If there is no enforcement action taken or we do not receive a response within the allotted al·lot tr.v. al·lot·ted, al·lot·ting, al·lots 1. To parcel out; distribute or apportion: allotting land to homesteaders; allot blame. 2. 60 days, we intend to petition the state board to enforce these waste discharge requirements,'' David Chatfield, state director for Clean Water Action, said in the letter addressed to Robert P. Ghirelli, the regional board's executive officer. Laidlaw officials dismissed the complaint, saying it's an attempt to derail de·rail intr. & tr.v. de·railed, de·rail·ing, de·rails 1. To run or cause to run off the rails. 2. their efforts to expand the dump, which has met intense opposition from Val Verde Val Verde may mean:
``It's just another effort on their part to undermine our efforts to expand the landfill,'' said Rodney Walter, the landfill's general manager. ``We feel we're running this facility in a very good, environmentally conscientious manner.'' Anti-landfill activists applauded Clean Water Action's demands. ``Laidlaw shouldn't be breaking any laws at all,'' said Merry Farmer, chairwoman of Citizens Against the Chiquita Canyon Landfill Expansion, a grassroots group in Val Verde. ``We're so close to the landfill and right now we're concerned with gas emissions and with water contamination,'' Farmer said. ``We want Laidlaw to respond to these allegations.'' According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. opponents, Laidlaw has illegally accepted liquid sludge and wastes such as soils and building materials Building materials used in the construction industry to create . These categories of materials and products are used by and construction project managers to specify the materials and methods used for . contaminated contaminated, v 1. made radioactive by the addition of small quantities of radioactive material. 2. made contaminated by adding infective or radiographic materials. 3. an infective surface or object. with petroleum, metals and volatile organics. They also said tests reveal ``explosive levels of gas'' on the dump's perimeter and cancer-causing chemicals in groundwater monitoring wells on the site. They fear runoff from the dump could contaminate the Santa Clara River, which feeds Ventura County's agricultural operations and harm animals such as the unarmored threespine stickleback stickleback, common name for members of the family Gasterosteidae, small fishes, widely distributed in both fresh- and saltwaters of the Northern Hemisphere. Sticklebacks range from 1 1-2 to 4 in. (3. , an endangered fish that lives in the upper reaches of the river. Laidlaw also violated a county permit by exceeding the landfill's maximum height of 1,220 feet, opponents said. The dump stands 1,252 feet tall, but Laidlaw says the increased height adheres to a state law on drainage requirements. Critics said the violation means the dump should be closed immediately. ``We want them to respond to the health and safety concerns we're pursuing,'' Farmer said. ``We're the closest to the landfill and they have to answer to these concerns. They can't think they can bully us around.'' Laidlaw denies it has committed the violations. In 1994, the company received a state permit allowing it to accept liquid sludge and expand the landfill despite a county permit forbidding it from doing so. The company also insists that it can accept low-level hazardous wastes, such as petroleum, volatile organic material and industrial sludges. Walter said Laidlaw is working with the regional board to clarify the alleged infractions, which are addressed in its final environmental impact report on the proposed expansion. The company also plans to send a follow-up letter follow-up letter n → carta recordatoria to the state in response to Clean Water Action's recent letter. ``We don't feel there's any problems,'' he said. ``We're working with the regional water board.'' Laidlaw is seeking a conditional use permit from the county Planning Commission to expand Chiquita to accommodate an additional 30 million tons of trash for up to 70 years. The landfill is scheduled to close in November 1997. The Planning Commission, which tentatively approved the project in January, is scheduled to review the final environmental impact report in September. |
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