Buried Consequences: The Chiquita Canyon Story
On the surface, the community of Val Verde, California may seem idyllic, home to picturesque foothills, farmhills, and year-round sunshine. However, Val Verde is also home to the notoriously noxious Chiquita Canyon Landfill — and for the 11,000 people who live in its shadow, daily life can be marred by unbearable odors and severe, chronic health harms.
For many of us, trash is literally out of sight and out of mind. However, every banana peel or bread crust that ends up in a landfill generates methane for decades to come. Methane is a climate super-pollutant, warming our planet at unprecedented rates. And it doesn’t travel alone. When methane belches out of the ground and into our atmosphere, it brings along a toxic cocktail of other harmful pollutants like toluene, benzene, VOCs, and hydrogen sulfide, all of which directly harm the health of those living nearby.
Watch Buried Consequences to hear directly from current and former Val Verde residents about their own horrific landfill stories.
