Homeowners Demand That Old Dump Site Be Cleaned Up

Large amounts of methane are leaking from a former dump that underlies the back yards of a dozen upscale homes in Rolling Hills Estates, city and air quality officials say.

The gas escaping from the former Hawthorne Canyon Landfill pegged the needle on a detection meter at 10,000 parts per million--the highest possible reading--according to experts who conducted the tests.

The fumes, though 20 times the allowable public nuisance standard set by the South Coast Air Quality Management District, pose no immediate explosive threat or health hazard to residents of the Moccasin Lane area, officials say.

But Moccasin Lane homeowners and at least one City Council member are demanding that government agencies clean up the dump site and restore back yards that have sagged as the landfill has settled.

“I want that stuff out of there,” said Councilwoman Jacki McGuire. Brushing aside experts’ assurances that the methane levels pose no danger, she added, “Those readings scare the hell out of me . . . that dump could be a health hazard.”

The methane readings were detected Tuesday as the AQMD inspected the site to see whether the 10-acre former dump, which has been closed since 1968, is emitting toxic, potentially harmful fumes.

At the city’s request, the agency took air samples from cracks and holes in the top of the old dump. The samples will be analyzed to determine whether the landfill contains toxic chemicals and, if so, whether the concentrations of the substances exceed safety limits.

The tests for toxics are expected to take three weeks. But in the meantime, methane emissions and continued settling of land in the area are causing concern.

Located in a small canyon between Hawthorne Boulevard and Moccasin Lane, the former dump was developed legally on private land by the county Sanitation Districts in 1968, records show.

Quickly filled, the landfill was capped the same year by a layer of earth, and the land was subdivided and sold. Later, half-acre back yards of 12 expensive homes along the north side of Moccasin Lane were built on top of the dump.

By 1981, decomposition of the yard trash and household garbage buried in the landfill was causing the yards to sink and crack. Residents say plants died, fences and barns collapsed, and swimming pools were damaged.

And the back yards smelled bad, largely as a result of escaping methane--another consequence of decomposing garbage and trash. For years, the residents put up with the gradual land settling. But as dump emissions began to foul the air and kill the landscaping, they complained.

Sanitation officials offered to put in a gas collection system to pipe off the methane, but they wanted the homeowners to maintain the system and assume liability for damage caused by future settling of land.

The homeowners balked.

“There is no way homeowners can accept that kind of responsibility or liability,” said Stan Willis, a merchant seaman living at 25 Moccasin Lane. “What we want is to have (the dump) all ripped out and replaced, we want it all out of there,” he said.

In February, the homeowners petitioned the City Council for help in pressing their demand that the Sanitation Districts remove the dump. They want the contents scooped out, the canyon refilled with clean dirt and their back yards restored.

Councilwoman McGuire agreed with the homeowners, but the rest of the council voted to put off a decision until experts can determine exactly what is in the landfill.

Complicating the issue is uncertainty about who would foot the cleanup bill. Though the Sanitation Districts built and operated the dump, the city once owned some of the land and permitted construction of the landfill.

Behind the scenes, city and county sanitation officials are arguing over who should be liable for dump cleanup costs, officials say.