Lopez Canyon Landfill : Later Deadline Studied for Gas Burn-Off System

The South Coast Air Quality Management District will consider on July 12 whether to give the city of Los Angeles additional time to install a $1-million system to burn off gas generated by Lopez Canyon Landfill, where two workers were overcome by gas earlier this year.

However, the AQMD legal department has recommended that if the city gets an extension, the board add a warning that it will take the city to court if the city does not meet the new deadline. The city already had been given a six-month extension, which ends July 1.

“We’re not asking for them to be shut down immediately or at any time,” said AQMD spokesman Bill Kelly. “But this would create an enforceable order that would put them under a firm deadline to start up the gas-collection system.”

Gyl Elliott, a spokeswoman for the city Public Works Department, said the city fell behind schedule while it prepared its permit application, which the AQMD approved June 6.

She said the city hopes to install the gas-collection system by October, but that unanticipated AQMD conditions added to the permit could require another six months construction time, extending work at least until the end of the year.

The city appealed the AQMD permit conditions Friday, Elliott said. Those conditions include frequent gas monitoring during construction and installation of a barrier around the flare station, where methane and other landfill gases rise to the surface to be burned off.

“That would take extra work, extra equipment and would delay it by at least six months,” she said.

On March 8, two workers fainted and required medical treatment after a layer of 7-year-old garbage at the dump above Lake View Terrace was unearthed during road excavation.

An AQMD investigation later determined that the road was being built without required AQMD permits. The gas that made the workers ill was never identified, although the AQMD believes it was hydrogen sulfide, a toxic byproduct of decaying manure.

The case has since been turned over to the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office for possible criminal prosecution of the city.

Since March, the landfill has been cited by the AQMD three times for odors caused by escaping gases. The odors were reported by citizens who asked that the landfill be shut down until the gas-collection system was completed and proved effective by testing.

Kelly said future gas problems probably would be prevented by installation of the gas-collection system.

All current and past landfills in the region with gas buildups were required to install similar systems by January, but Kelly said most received extensions on their deadlines.