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VOL. 12,
NO. 160
EPA orders Chiquita Canyon Landfill to address imminent dangers
Teen charged in shootings that left 4 dead; 2 more deaths linked to spree
By City News Service
By City News Service
A
n order from the Environmental Protection Agency says the operators of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill endangers nearby communities and the operators need to take immediate steps to protect human and environmental health, and area politicians are responding to the order Friday. The EPA issued in a news release Thursday that it has found the Chiquita Canyon Landfill presents imminent and substantial endangerment to nearby communities. The order calls for the operators to mitigate off-site community impacts of noxious odors and hazardous waste and to contain and reduce the smoldering or reaction event occurring at the landfill. An attorney for nearby residents impacted by the landfill filed a petition Thursday in Los Angeles Superior Court asking for
Castaic on Thursday to call for the closing of the landfill. It was the second time this week the landfill has been cited by government agencies. The California Department of Toxic Substances Control alerted the landfill operators on Tuesday of five Class-I violations. The violations are the highest listed on the DTSC website and are “a significant threat to human health or safety or the environment.” The landfill operators were found by the DTSC to be illegally disposing hazardous waste, in the case of Chiquita Canyon, leachate that contains toxic levels of benzene, a carcinogen, at a facility that is not permitted to treat hazardous waste. The DTSC is preparing a more complete report of the violations that is expected to be completed in April. A summary of the
Liquids collect on top of scrim tarp and gas pillows on Jan. 18 at the Chiquita Canyon Landfill. | Photo courtesy of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
the landfill to be closed. A group of residents gathered in Hasley Canyon Park in
violations indicates the landfill operators failed to label a 4,600-gallon load
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“Previously Leaking Well CV2203” is shown well after repairs to its gasket seal with leachate on ground on Jan. 18. | Photo courtesy of the EPA
of leachate pumped from Chiquita Canyon as hazardous waste and transported it to a nonhazardous waste facility. The EPA is part of a multi-agency task force formed in November to address the health and environmental impacts of the landfill. “This order reflects EPA’s commitment to ensuring landfill operators mitigate noxious odors and comply with federal law to prevent public exposure to hazardous wastes,” EPA Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator Martha Guzman said in the release. “Today’s order is the result of local, state, and federal collaboration to better protect the health of nearby residents as well as the surrounding environment.” State Assemblywoman
Pilar Schiavo, D-Chatsworth, said in a statement issued Thursday, this is an urgent crisis demanding immediate solutions. In a letter sent to representatives of DTSC, South Coast AQMD and the state Water Resources Control Board, she calls for “an urgent meeting to discuss the current state of oversight and accountability imposed upon Chiquita Canyon Landfill, the steps that DTSC will be taking to expand monitoring and mitigation, and how the DTSC, the Water Board, and the South Coast Air Quality Management District will be coordinating with local, state and federal entities to ensure rapid resolution to this crisis.” The letter was signed by four other Assembly members.
17-year-old boy Friday was facing murder charges and other counts stemming from a southeastern Los Angeles County shooting spree that left four people dead, while one of the other defendants in the case was charged along with another man in connection with two additional killings, prosecutors announced. The teen was identified by the District Attorney’s Office as Deair Fleming Delerence, who was charged in juvenile court with four counts of murder and two counts of attempted murder in connection with the two-day killing spree that occurred Feb. 11-12. In court Wednesday, Delerence denied the criminal petition -- the juvenile court equivalent of a not-guilty plea. Gary Garcia Jr., 42, and Timberland Wayne McKneely, 20, were previously charged with the same counts in connection with the shootings, which left three men and a 14-yearold boy dead. They are scheduled to be arraigned Feb. 29 in a Norwalk courtroom on the charges, which include the special circumstance allegations of multiple murders and shooting from a motor vehicle causing death. Prosecutors announced Thursday that McKneely has also been charged along with 18-year-old Joseivan Mendoza with the killings of two other men, aged 30 and 28, in Cudahy and an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County on Nov. 24, 2023. Specific details of those shootings were not immediately available. Mendoza is also expected to be arraigned Feb. 29. He has not been linked to the Feb. 11-12 killing spree. “My heart remains with all the victims, their loved ones, and the communities who have been affected by this senseless violence,” District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement. “My office is fully committed to ensuring that justice is served to all individuals responsible for these heinous murders. I join with all Los Angeles County residents in expressing my gratitude for the hardworking members of law enforcement who continue to investigate these horrific murders.” The four people who died in the two-day killing spree last week are believed to have been targeted randomly by the suspects. Garcia, McKneely and Mendoza could face life in prison without the possibility of parole if convicted as charged, according to Gascón. The murder charges include a special circumstance allegation of multiple murders and shooting from a motor vehicle causing death. The first shooting in the killing spree occurred around 11:30 p.m. Feb. 11 in the 6500 block of Bear Avenue in Bell, authorities said. That shooting left 24-year-old Kevin Parada dead. A 29-year-old man was also fired upon, but was not injured, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Shortly after midnight, another fatal shooting occurred Monday in the 1500 block of East Florence Avenue in the nearby unincorporated Florence- Firestone area. That victim, described as a 27-year-old Hispanic man, was not immediately identified. Two boys, both Latino, were shot a short time later in the 5000 block of Live Oak Street near Ellen Ochoa Learning Center in Cudahy. One of them, 14-year-old Javier Pedraza Jr. See Shootings Page 27