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Kettleman Hills operator reports liner separations, county to host annual meeting; SB 1289 draws local attention
Summary
Chemical Waste Management's Kettleman Hills quarterly report to the Kings County Board detailed two liner incidents (a small patch separation repaired Feb. 24 and a bulldozer strike on Apr. 7) and outlined upcoming inspections and an annual community meeting; staff and supervisors discussed Senator Hurtado's SB 1289 and county co‑sponsorship and outreach.
At the April 14 Kings County Board of Supervisors meeting, Kettleman Hills Facility general manager Bob Henry delivered the quarterly operations report covering Jan. 27–Apr. 13 and told the board that routine inspections by state and county agencies found no regulatory violations during the period.
Henry reported two separate liner incidents. On Feb. 20 staff discovered a small separation (less than 1 foot) in an HDPE liner at surface impoundment P9; the liner was repaired on Feb. 24, a construction certification report was prepared, and Henry said the separation was above the leachate line and produced no intrusion. On Apr. 7 a contractor’s bulldozer struck a geosynthetic liner in the municipal solid waste landfill (B17), damaging approximately 4 feet of liner components; Henry said agencies were notified and a work plan is being developed for repair and that there was no pathway for contamination to leave the site.
Henry described upcoming community engagement and regulatory milestones: a Kings County community meeting and mailer to DTSC mailing lists to review groundwater and air monitoring year‑over‑year results; a Central Valley Regional Water Quality Control Board biannual inspection scheduled for April 23; and the facility’s annual community meeting on April 29 covering air and groundwater monitoring and contingency planning.
The report also touched on legislation: Henry recounted that Senator Anna Hurtado introduced Senate Bill 1289, which he summarized as proposing to require certain non‑recurrent hazardous wastes be disposed of only in hazardous waste landfills regardless of where they originate. Henry said he and the operator plan to testify and that Kings County previously agreed to co‑sponsor the bill; board members and staff discussed the bill’s potential implications and the need for further coordination with Senator Hurtado’s office and the ESJPA (Environmental Services JPA).
Supervisor comments ranged from appreciation for facility community events to questions about the incidents and the county’s relationship to the pending bill. The board was informed that DTSC expects to respond to public comments and make a final permit decision by Sept. 30, with a 30‑day appeal period to the DTSC Board of Environmental Safety.
Ending: County staff scheduled follow‑up inspections and public outreach ahead of the annual meeting; board members asked for continued coordination on SB1289 language and community reporting.
