County Assures Agoura Hills on Brackish Water

Brackish creek water that has flowed through an Agoura Hills neighborhood this winter is not coming from a nearby landfill where 442,000 tons of liquid wastes have been dumped, a sanitation official assured homeowners Wednesday night.

Instead, a rising water table and rainwater that has percolated through salt-laden soil is to blame for the murky stream in Liberty Canyon, said Stephen R. Maguin, assistant head of solid waste management for the Los Angeles County Sanitation Districts.

The 200-home Liberty Canyon area lies a few hundred yards downstream from the 505-acre Calabasas Landfill, which until 4 1/2 years ago was the dumping ground for thousands of gallons of oils, acids and other toxic wastes each day.

The county-owned landfill is the primary dump site for the West San Fernando Valley. About 400 garbage trucks use it daily.

Ban in Mid-1980

Sanitation officials banned toxic substances from the landfill in mid-1980 after publicity over toxic contamination near New York’s Love Canal raised fears among residents of Agoura’s Saratoga Hills subdivision. The backyards of some homes in that housing tract adjoin the Calabasas Landfill.

Maguin was called to outline his agency’s safety precautions to the Agoura Hills City Council. City officials said the dirty creek water was called to their attention when Liberty Canyon residents testified at a recent city Planning Commission meeting.

According to Maguin, continuous monitoring of specially drilled wells in and around the landfill has proven that no toxic liquids are seeping from the dump.