California air quality regulators are doing the bare minimum to curb landfill pollution

The Los Angeles County community of Val Verde has been my home for 48 years. It’s where I grew up, where I raised my children and where my husband and I plan to retire. It used to be the kind of place where people said “hi” to each other on the street, kids rode their bikes around and you didn’t have to think twice about the air you were breathing.

However, what used to be clean, breathable air is now filled with the stench and pollution coming from the Chiquita Canyon Landfill. Alarmingly, the air isn’t just unpleasant anymore — it’s toxic.

For years, my neighbors and I have been sounding the alarm over the noxious pollution being emitted by the landfill. Myself, and my friends and family, have experienced chronic symptoms like headaches, rashes, burning eyes and constant nausea. People complain of migraines, asthma attacks, stomach issues and even reproductive problems.

California’s landfills also emit huge amounts of the highly pollutant greenhouse gas, methane, which are a major contributor to global warming. In 2023 alone, estimated methane emissions from California’s landfills were equivalent to more than 5 million cars on the road. Greenhouse gasses are exacerbating natural disasters, like the horrible January wildfires that the Los Angeles area is still recovering from.

There are people with the power to do something about this. The California Air Resources Board sets standards for how landfill operators find and control methane emissions. Those standards, called the Landfill Methane Rule, haven’t been updated since 2010. That’s 15 years ago. And while the air resources board is currently considering updates to the rules, they’re moving far too slow and trying to get away with the bare minimum.

CARB’s most recent proposed updates to landfill regulations fail to include basic, proven strategies that could protect our health and climate. A recent report by Industrious Labs found that making common-sense updates to how landfills operate could slash methane emissions in half by 2050. Reducing methane also means reducing dangerous co-pollutants that make people sick. 

One survey found that the vast majority of Val Verde residents experience frequent headaches. That’s not normal. And it’s only gotten worse — in 2024 alone, more than 14,000 complaints about the landfill were submitted to the South Coast Air Quality Management District.

I’ve learned that, while Val Verde’s situation is devastating, it’s unfortunately not unique. There are over 300 landfills across the state, and many — like Newby Island in Milpitas, Clover Flat Landfill in Calistoga and Avenal Landfill in Avenal — have also been in the news for making nearby residents sick. That’s because landfills emit health-harming pollutants like benzene, sulfur dioxide and volatile organic compounds.

Like Val Verde, where nearly 60% of residents are Hispanic, communities of color are often the ones bearing the brunt of landfill pollution. It’s no coincidence that 70% of California’s highest-emitting landfills are located in these communities, a report by Industrious Labs found. Communities like mine are paying the price in doctor’s bills, in sick days, in missed school and in lives shortened by toxic exposure.

CARB could make a meaningful difference right now by requiring stronger landfill cover practices, making sure that more landfill gas is collected before it escapes into our atmosphere, and using established technology to find invisible methane leaks.

These aren’t radical solutions — they’re affordable, effective and ready to go.  

Watching the people I love suffer pushed me into activism. I had no choice. I began speaking out — not just in my neighborhood but to elected officials and policymakers across all levels of government. I even shared my story with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last year and testified in front of the air resources board earlier this year.

Poor landfill management comes at a price, and communities across California have paid that price for too long. We’ve done our part — we’ve testified, we’ve suffered, we’ve waited. Now CARB needs to do its job and protect California communities.