Residents Angry That a Second Northeast Valley Landfill is Used for Fire Debris

Excessive dust, foul smells and too many dump trucks on Sun Valley streets are what Claudia Arechiga and her neighbors have endured for years in her heavily industrialized community. When she recently heard that the Sun Valley Landfill would also be receiving debris from the Pacific Palisades Fire, she worried that their existing problems would worsen – the debris that already permeates the air and covers their cars like snow.  

A short distance away, in adjacent North Hollywood, Jason Enright also worries about the already poor air quality getting worse, which could impact his family’s health. 

“I have asthma and my 8-year-old son has asthma, too,” he said.

Last Thursday, Arechiga and Enright were among over 100 people packing the Polytechnic High School gymnasium for a meeting addressing the reports that fire debris would be coming to the nearby Sun Valley Landfill. 

The March 13 gathering was no ordinary meeting. It was held by Los Angeles City Councilwoman Imelda Padilla, state Senator Caroline Menjivar and Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez. It included a dozen representatives from city, state and federal government and local companies.

Lack of Transparency Breeds Distrust

People were angry that they weren’t told Sun Valley would receive fire debris as part of the cleanup effort. The lack of transparency led them to distrust the decision.

“I heard that fire debris from Pacific Palisades and Altadena has been dumped here for nearly two weeks,” complained Arechiga. “It’s not fair. We weren’t informed about what they were doing here in Sun Valley.”

It turned out that local elected officials representing the area were in the dark, too. They included Padilla, State Sen. Caroline Menjivar and newly elected Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez.

Menjivar learned by accident that the Sun Valley Landfill would be receiving fire debris. 

“Someone mentioned it in passing while I was in Sacramento for the Women’s Caucus meeting last month,” recalled the senator. 

When she reached out to her Valley counterparts in the state Assembly and LA City Council, they didn’t know either. Following meetings with Vulcan Materials Company, owner of Sun Valley Landfill, the politicians decided to tell residents.

After weeks of cajoling representatives from different levels of government and involved businesses, the town hall meeting was quickly arranged last Thursday. It included representatives from CalRecycle, the state agency overseeing waste management and recycling, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, LA Sanitation, and South Coast Air Quality Management District. Also present was a spokesperson for Vulcan.

Valley Sites for Fire Debris 

This is not the first time Pacific Palisades fire debris has been sent to the Northeastern San Fernando Valley. Sylmar’s Sunshine Canyon Landfill started receiving fire debris weeks ago, which angered that community. Similarly, they were not informed and felt misled. As they protested and appealed to Supervisor Lindsay Horvath for support to reject the debris, they learned it was already being taken to the controversial landfill prior to the meeting they attended to dissuade the Board of Supervisors vote. For years, Sylmar and Granada Hills residents have protested against that landfill for causing putrid odors, excessive dust and heavy truck traffic that oftentimes keeps them indoors.

The LA County Board of Supervisors voted to increase tonnage for Sunshine Canyon clearing the way to accept treated fire debris, which is usually buried on the site. The municipal landfill does not accept hazardous waste. Debris from the fires is reportedly filtered to eliminate toxic chemicals like asbestos, pesticides and lithium by the Army Corp of Engineers on behalf of the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Officials maintain the removed toxic chemicals are sent to special landfills.

Sun Valley is an Aggregate Facility

 Despite its name, the  Sun Valley Landfill is an aggregate facility that reportedly receives only “clean concrete that is non-hazardous,” according to Jack Bonnikson of Vulcan Materials, the owner of the landfill. The concrete cleaning process to rid it of toxic materials is carried out on-site in Pacific Palisades by Security Paving, which also crushes it before it’s trucked to Sun Valley.

According to Vulcan’s website, the Sun Valley Landfill “provides disposal and recycling services for inert materials” including “uncontaminated dirt, concrete, asphalt, rock, concrete block, clay tile and brick.” It also sells “recycled road base.” The site also says they do not accept hazardous waste or material.

Bonnikson said the landfill started receiving fire debris on March 10. He said the facility has a permit cap of 6,000 tons per day but does not expect to get more than 3,000 tons of Pacific Palisades crushed concrete. This can be resold as is or mixed with aggregates to produce other construction materials, explained Bonnikson. 

“We’ve had a minimal amount of debris brought in to date but we expect that number to grow over time,” Bonnikson stated.

Environmental Injustice 

Residents aren’t convinced. They complained that Sun Valley is already burdened with a high concentration of landfills, recycling facilities and industry that creates pollution and health hazards. The Northeast Valley now has two sites accepting unwanted debris.

“We’ve been the dumping ground for years and years and years,” said Maria Ziehler, who lives near the Sun Valley Landfill.

Norma Chavez of the Sun Valley Neighborhood Council said that often community residents are not given accurate information and attention.

Enright suggested that fire debris operations be taxed to fund the fixing of locally impacted roads and conduct studies on their environmental impact.

A Lingering Question

Before the meeting, Sun Valley resident Estela Harrington told the San Fernando Valley Sun/el Sol she came to the meeting with one question: “Who made the decision to bring this debris to Sun Valley?” 

The meeting did not provide a clear answer about the Sun Valley Landfill. However, Menjivar reminded attendees that the decision for Sunshine Canyon came from the County. She added that county authorities were invited to the March 13 meeting. “You have city here and state here. We invited County to be here, and they did not want to be here.” 

In response to emails for this article, Horvath’s Communications Director Constance Farrell replied, “Vulcan Landfill is in the Fifth District, which is Chair Kathryn Barger’s district. Our office is in close contact with Councilmember Padilla’s office and we made connections [with] the Fifth District for coordination ahead of the meeting.”

Barger’s Communications Director Helen E. Chavez Garcia, replied, “Supervisor Barger was not able to attend due to a conflicting appointment but was represented by Diana Oganesyan, her Assistant Field Deputy for the Supervisor’s San Fernando Valley field office.” 

Arechiga said she was pleased to see a packed school gym holding government officials and businesses accountable. She also had some advice for Valley residents: “Our community needs to remain involved,” she said. “Environmental issues affect the health of all of our families and children, all of us.”

Correction:

An earlier version of this article reported that California Senator Caroline Menjivar said the decision to bring fire debris to the Sun Valley Landfill “was all county-related.” That was incorrect.  Menjivar was referencing the Sunshine Canyon Landfill in Sylmar, not the Sun Valley Landfill. Also, Menjivar said that “county was invited” to the March 13 Sun Valley meeting but did not name specific county supervisors. The meeting was co-hosted and called by Councilwoman Imelda Padilla, Caroline Menjivar and Assemblywoman Celeste Rodriguez, not only Padilla. We regret the errors.