Antelope Valley residents say they are fed up with rampant dumping, official inaction

Eric Eller likes to thrust his ungraded bikes done the canyons, adust riverbeds and rocky outcroppings of the Antelope Valley successful the precocious godforsaken northbound of Los Angeles.

Eller’s an off-the-grid benignant of feline with a “Mad Max” vibe — surviving successful a location connected a distant crippled of onshore adjacent to a jury-rigged trailer wherever helium tinkers with the remnants and pieces of gutted automobiles, motorcycles and different mechanical debris.

But Eller’s isolation was obliterated past June erstwhile dozens of large dump trucks began snaking up the ungraded roadworthy down his location and discarding their loads into the adjacent adust stream canyon. The caravan of waste-haulers continued successful the days that followed, often arriving aft sundown oregon successful the acheronian hours earlier dawn.

Two months later, the convoys abruptly stopped. But not earlier the makeshift dump’s aboveground had been camouflaged with ungraded and mulch — overmuch of which has since blown away, revealing a 30-foot-deep noxious stew of chopped-up concrete, integrative tampon applicators, faded integrative children’s toys, toothbrushes, syringes, bare caulking tubes, two-by-fours, faded books, weathered Styrofoam tube insulation, integrative bucket tops and more.

EL MIRAGE, CA - APRIL 18: A motortruck leaves the Circle Green mulch dump tract adjacent El Mirage connected Friday, April 18, 2025. (Myung J. Chun / Los Angeles Times)

Across the Antelope Valley, discarded trucks are hauling garbage successful from the Greater Los Angeles country and Central Valley towns specified arsenic Bakersfield, and past dumping it astatine makeshift sites. Letters, bills and envelopes disposable astatine respective of these discarded sites successful April showed addresses successful Pacoima, Los Angeles and Van Nuys, among different cities.

“Illegal dumping has been a occupation successful the Antelope Valley for decades,” said Chuck Bostwick, a elder tract lawman for Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents overmuch of the area. “But it’s gotten worse successful the past 2 oregon 3 years, markedly worse.”

In immoderate cases, specified arsenic the tract down Eller’s home, the discarded sites are flat-out unauthorized. No landowner has fixed support to dump astatine the site, and the discarded consists of construction, household and aesculapian debris.

But successful others cases, the waste-haulers person the landowners’ support to dump — but are disposing discarded that should beryllium going to landfills equipped to grip household and concern waste, lawsuits claim.

In 1 suit filed successful U.S. District Court successful Los Angeles, residents assertion that large residential waste-hauling companies including Athens Services, California Waste Services and Universal Waste Systems are dumping hazardous substances without authorization.

The suit claims these companies are disguising the operation and demolition debris arsenic “green discarded by unlawfully covering this discarded with highly flammable wood chips and different integrated waste.”

Eric Casper, the president of California Waste Services, said successful an email that his institution has “never engaged successful dumping discarded of immoderate kind, astatine immoderate time, successful the Antelope Valley — ineligible oregon illegal. Nor anyplace else.”

A sneaker among the trash dumped astatine Adobe Mountain adjacent Lancaster, CA. Locals accidental this was a canyon earlier it was filled successful to clasp trash. Photographed connected Friday, April 18, 2025.

Athens Services besides denied immoderate amerciable dumping, saying successful a connection that California’s organics recycling instrumentality “encourages sending compostable worldly to 3rd parties specified arsenic farmers and different spot owners for beneficial use. This is the worldly that Athens Services produces and distributes.”

Universal Waste Systems and different companies named successful the suit didn’t respond to requests for comment, nor person they filed responses to the national suit.

Residents accidental determination are much than 100 dump sites scattered passim the vale — from Lake Los Angeles to the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve and northbound to Mojave — that they contend are unauthorized.

Some of these sites screen hundreds of acres and widen dozens of feet deep. And residents interest that what they tin spot — from the roads oregon their homes — is conscionable the extremity of a malodorous and malignant iceberg, and that determination are astir apt dozens much they haven’t yet identified.

They kick they are plagued by the toxic, sour and rotten-egg similar smells emanating from the discarded trash that cooks successful the blistery prima and past wafts crossed their properties.

They besides enactment that the flammable mulch and different materials successful the dump, combined with a broiling godforsaken sun, makes for an acute occurrence risk.

Between 2020 and 2024, the Los Angeles County Fire Department responded to 42 mulch oregon trash-related fires successful the Antelope Valley, ranging from a quarter-acre to 22 acres, yet costing taxpayers astir $1.6 cardinal to extinguish, according to Los Angeles County documents.

Ashley Mroz, who lives successful the Antelope Valley assemblage of Neenach, said a mulch-covered dump tract spontaneously combusted adjacent her location past summer.

“It had been smoldering for days and days,” said Mroz, 1 of the plaintiffs successful the national tribunal suit. “We could not adjacent spell outside. The odor was truthful horrific.”

Trash dumped astatine Adobe Mountain adjacent Lancaster, CA. Locals accidental this was a canyon earlier it was filled successful to clasp trash. Photographed connected Friday, April 18, 2025.

And the scourge has dispersed beyond the dump sites: Shredded integrative debris tin beryllium seen hanging from roadside Joshua trees and creosote bushes. While a midday presumption crossed the arid scenery reveals a oversea of glimmering, reflective solid shards, similar the tips of cresting waves implicit a vast, brownish ocean.

According to Antelope Valley residents and the national suit, spot owners successful immoderate cases person fixed support — and received payments for — discarded to beryllium dumped connected their land. Not lone bash these sites airs a nuisance to the neighbors who unrecorded adjacent to oregon adjacent them, successful immoderate cases the worldly being dumped includes concern and household discarded that tin leach into the groundwater.

In its statement, Athens pointed retired that spot owners sometimes springiness support to judge worldly from aggregate discarded companies.

“To the grade determination are immoderate instances of noncompliant material, we are assured the grounds volition show that it came from different source,” Athens said.

Encounter successful Adelanto

On a blustery time successful April successful the precocious godforsaken municipality of Adelanto, section residents watched arsenic 2 dump trucks offloaded their discarded into a San Bernardino county-certified integrated discarded dump tract that is surrounded by eight- to 10-foot precocious berms of mulch-like discarded laced with shredded plastic, insulated wires and chopped-up, integrative children’s toys.

Through a interruption successful the berm, the residents could spot that the crushed astir the precocious dumped haul glittered successful the sunlight with breached glass, portion stalks of what appeared to beryllium insulated wires and rigid integrative stood sentry crossed the 138-acre expanse.

Two men sitting successful a metallic GMC pickup motortruck who were watching the disposal drove implicit to the gawking residents.

When the residents asked who they were and what the trucks were dumping, the men declined to reply and referred questions to the proprietor of the property, which The Times aboriginal determined to beryllium Kevin Sutton, the proprietor of a institution called Circle Green Inc. Sutton didn’t respond to requests for comment.

As neighbors and a Times newsman and lensman drove distant from the site, the metallic pickup followed for respective miles, tailgating and swerving erratically. The motortruck turned astir lone erstwhile the tiny caravan came crossed a fistful of heavy equipped California Fish and Game instrumentality enforcement agents parked alongside the road.

“It’s the Wild West retired here,” said Kristina Brown, a Lancaster spot proprietor who is simply a enactment to the national suit.

A convenient dumping ground

The Antelope Valley’s proximity to Los Angeles and its immense stretches of chaotic godforsaken marque it a premier people for unauthorized dumping.

Sitting astatine astir 3,000 feet supra oversea level, and surrounded by the Tehachapi, Sierra Pelona and San Gabriel mountains, the vale is besides divided by jurisdiction — with Los Angeles, Kern and San Bernardino counties each claiming immoderate territory.

“For decades, our amerciable dumping was small-time stuff,” said Bostwick, Supervisor Barger’s tract deputy. “It was idiosyncratic who had a sofa they couldn’t beryllium bothered to instrumentality to the dump oregon they didn’t privation to pay, truthful they dumped it retired successful the desert. There was commercialized dumping then, but it was tiny clip arsenic well.”

But past the state’s discarded laws changed, helium said.

Starting successful 1989, California began requiring municipalities to divert 50% of their discarded distant from landfill and toward much sustainable discarded absorption solutions, specified arsenic recycling and compost. And arsenic Bostwick noted, the immense unfastened spaces of the Antelope Valley beckoned.

In 2022, lawmakers implemented Senate Bill 1383, which initially mandated the diversion of 50% of each nutrient and integrated discarded distant from landfills, but accrued to 75% connected Jan. 1, 2025. Another 2020 instrumentality closed a loophole that had allowed discarded companies to dump greenish discarded successful landfill, but not person it counted against them. As a result, the request for dumping grounds accrued again.

Cities, counties and towns that neglect to conscionable the diversion rates hazard fines of up to $10,000 a day.

Mounds of dumped loads astatine this determination southbound of E. Avenue M successful Lake Los Angeles. The mounds incorporate mulch, trash and operation debris. The tract was recovered by a nonmigratory who followed a motortruck onto the ungraded roads. Photographed connected Friday, April 18, 2025.

Residents, lawmakers and experts accidental portion the tone of these laws is noble, successful galore areas of the state, the infrastructure to grip the diverted discarded is lacking — particularly successful Southern California, wherever determination is not astir capable farmland oregon h2o to grip the accrued volumes of greenish discarded leaving the region’s cities and suburbs.

As a result, discarded companies and haulers — trying to support costs down and support metropolis contracts — are tempted to dump the discarded wherever they can, portion section governments are reluctant to ace down connected violations, Bostwick said.

State regulations person made “disposal overmuch much costly and hard to woody with, and truthful that’s accrued the fiscal incentives for companies oregon individuals to conscionable dump illegally,” helium said.

There’s besides precise small enforcement.

According to Los Angeles County data, portion taxpayers spent astir $1.3 cardinal betwixt 2017 and 2018 to mitigate amerciable discarded disposal successful the region, that fig jumped astir fourfold successful 2022-2023, erstwhile taxpayers had to ft $4.46 cardinal to mitigate the problem.

At the aforesaid time, the fig of cases filed with the Environmental Crimes Division of the territory attorney’s bureau decreased from 15 successful 2019 to 3 successful 2023.

In February, CalRecycle, the state’s discarded agency, finalized exigency orders they accidental should empower section instrumentality enforcement agencies to halt the amerciable disposal. Previous regulations lone allowed for enactment against the proprietor of onshore wherever the disposal was occurring. The caller orders let enforcement officials to people parties that are dumping the materials and the facilities that provided the material.

The orders came aft officials from the authorities bureau came to sojourn the country successful October 2024 — prodded by Brown, Mroz and different section residents, galore of whom person spent years calling authorities and section officials astir the problem.

Enforcement of these orders, however, is the work of the county, said Lance Klug, a spokesperson for the authorities discarded agency.

“Local enforcement agencies tin champion talk to their enforcement actions to date, and immoderate anticipated adjacent steps, present that exigency regulations are successful effect,” helium said.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors adopted a measurement past twelvemonth requiring mulch suppliers to instrumentality backmost immoderate contaminated oregon amerciable discarded dumped connected backstage land. The measure, which was sponsored by Barger, besides directed region agencies to necessitate “stringent grounds keeping for each onshore exertion operations regarding the root of each incoming loads and investigating results from each mulch suppliers.”

County officials couldn’t instantly supply numbers precocious erstwhile asked however galore enforcement actions had been taken.

“There’s virtually nary enforcement,” said Brown, who worries that the concern is lone going to get worse.

Last month, Eller was riding his ungraded motorcycle erstwhile helium stumbled upon a 60-acre expanse of freshly dumped operation debris, aesculapian discarded and compost connected a crippled of onshore miles distant from immoderate large road.

The tyre marks from dump trucks hadn’t yet been blown distant by the incessant gales of the precocious desert. No fences oregon berms were erected to incorporate the site, making it intolerable to spot from the roadworthy oregon on the horizon.

He said it feels similar they are surviving successful a real-life crippled of whack-a-mole: As soon arsenic helium and his neighbors place and study 1 site, the haulers determination onto another.

And they accidental they consciousness abandoned by regulators, who they accidental are doing thing to halt it.

“It feels similar we’re screaming into the wind,” Brown said.