when a late-summer heat wave lingered past Labor Day, residents say the nearby Sunshine Canyon Landfill sent an especially malodorous cloud through Granada Hills homes and schools, generating 178 complaints this month to air regulators.
?It is a sour, pungent gas odor starting every night till morning,? said Meg Volk, a Granada Hills resident of 24 years. ?The last 14 days have been so bad -- on nights we could have opened up the windows and get fresh air, we had to shut them and turn on the air conditioning.
Despite a lawsuit filed against its private operator and thousands of complaints lodged with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, residents say the noxious smell that can creep over the hill and into homes and classrooms has gotten worse.
Between January 2009 and last month, residents filed 7,557 odor complaints with the air district, which issued 143 nuisance notices of violation against landfill operator Republic Services, as well as eight notices for failing to control ground emissions.
In response to residents? complaints, the Los Angeles Unified School District installed charcoal filters in Van Gogh Elementary, but teachers say the dump odors still seep into their classrooms, parents said, while kids sometimes catch a whiff on the schoolyard.
Residents say their property values have diminished, with roughly the same houses going for $150,000 more in nearby Porter Ranch.
