Noxious odors from Castaic landfill are making residents sick, lawsuit alleges

CASTAIC, Calif. (KABC) -- People who live near the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in Castaic are filing a major lawsuit that alleges the toxic odors from the site are making people sick.

Nearly 1,000 residents are part of the mass lawsuit, including Rome Centeno who said his health has been spiraling.

He lives in the community of Val Verde just over the hill from the Chiquita Landfill. He said he's sucked in so much of the toxic fumes spewing from the dump, he fears his health is going from bad to worse.

"We live right behind the landfill, so we are affected directly," Centeno said. "The odors and the damage stay in our bodies, in our health and in our houses."

Attorney Jackie Kruger said the civil suit against the landfill could reach tens of millions of dollars in damages and is long overdue.

"There's no amount of money that can give back people their health or their life that they've lost, but since this happened we want to get the maximum we can for each and every single one of these clients," Kruger said.

"I want them to move forward in life with peace, so I want to have this landfill shut down," Kruger added. "I want remediation. I want cleanup."

Environmental regulators have said that local air and water samples at the landfill have contained elevated levels of benzene, a cancer-causing chemical that evaporates easily that can cause health issues from prolonged exposure.

Operators of the landfill have been working with the county and other agencies to cap leaks spewing the toxic fumes into the air.

Eyewitness News reached out to the operators of the landfill for comment regarding the lawsuit and has not yet heard back.