Odor Mitigation

Summary of Activities

Chiquita’s December 2024 State of the Landfill Report is available here (en Español) and Chiquita’s February 2025 Technical Addendum to the report is available here (en Español). This report provides a summary overview of the Elevated Temperature Landfill event that is occurring in a portion of the Landfill and the efforts Chiquita and its experts are taking to mitigate this event. This report includes data and information as of October 31, 2024 or Quarter Three of 2024. Chiquita intends to update this report periodically with more recent data, information, and analysis.

Here is a summary of the activities Chiquita has taken and/or mitigation measures Chiquita has implemented over the past week (5/4/25 – 5/9/25).

The source of any odors coming from the Chiquita Canyon Landfill is an increase in the production of landfill gas (LFG) and liquids at the Landfill. This increase in LFG and liquids production is due to an abnormal biotic or abiotic process (also known as a landfill reaction) taking place deep within a lined, but older and, inactive portion of the Landfill waste mass.  This reaction is not a fire or subsurface oxidation event within the waste mass, and is not related to current waste disposal operations at the Landfill.

Chiquita continues to work diligently with all of its regulators to address this landfill reaction and any related impacts. In November 2023, local, state, and federal agencies formed a Multi-Agency Critical Action Team (“MCAT”), led by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (“EPA”), to coordinate regulatory efforts. In March 2024, this coordination shifted into a new phase, and the County, CalEPA, and U.S. EPA created a Response Multi-Agency Coordination Group (“R-MAC”) composed of federal, state, and local onsite coordinators. On October 14, 2024, the RMAC ended the emergency response phase of their work and the R-MAC disbanded. The MCAT now leads the regulatory efforts at the Landfill.