Controversial landfill in wine country expected to close

A landfill in California’s wine country that has drawn scrutiny for its management of toxic chemicals may be poised to close, Napa County officials confirmed this week.

Waste Connections, the large national waste management company that owns the Napa Valley-area Clover Flat Landfill, is expected to submit a closure plan to the county’s Local Enforcement Agency (LEA) “near the end of this year,” Holly Dawson, the county’s deputy CEO for communications, said in an email.

Based on recent discussions with Waste Connections, the closure process is expected to take about three to four years, and there are no plans for future operations at the site beyond long-term monitoring, said Dawson.

The development comes as a growing coalition of local activists and nonprofit groups call for Clover Flat’s closure, citing concerns about the landfill’s numerous regulatory violations, environmental impact and social justice issues. The landfill has been the site of fires and is suspected of polluting waterways in the famous winemaking region with harmful chemicals, which drain into the river that irrigates local vineyards.

Confirmation from the LEA about the company’s intent to shutter Clover Flat follows a May email exchange between a Waste Connections employee and Napa County staff about the landfill’s future, which was uncovered in a recent public records request.

“There have been some internal developments on our end for the Clover Flat site, including early closure of the landfill – the details are still being worked out,” wrote the company’s California Regional Engineer.

Ronald Mittelstaedt, the president and CEO of Waste Connections, did not respond to a request for comment about plans to close the landfill.

If plans to shut down Clover Flat move forward, the landfill will be “capped,” said Dawson, a process that involves placing a cover over a waste site to keep harmful chemicals contained.

“The waste currently onsite will remain, covered with a final closure system designed to protect the environment and meet regulatory requirements,” said Dawson, noting that Waste Connections will “continue to maintain and monitor the landfill following closure” and that the LEA will conduct routine inspections.

“Clover Flat Landfill will continue accepting waste during the closure process,” she added. “This will continue until the site has reached a capacity necessary to allow for closure as outlined in the forthcoming Closure Plan.”

The Upper Valley Waste Management Agency, which oversees Napa County’s waste services, will hold a board meeting open to the public on Oct. 21 to discuss how the landfill’s closure may impact residents if Waste Connections moves forward with a closure plan, including where future waste might go, Steven Lederer, the county’s director of public works and the agency’s manager, said in an email.

Clover Flat has been operating since the 1960s and was previously owned by the wealthy, politically-connected Pestoni family, which sold it to Waste Connections last year amid complaints.

The State Water Resources Control Board (Water Board) is currently conducting an investigation of Clover Flat following previous violations.

In 2023, Water Board staff found per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), toxic chemicals linked to cancers and other health issues, in a creek that flows alongside the landfill. A 2020 analysis conducted by a third party had identified PFAS chemicals in all collected samples of Clover Flat’s groundwater and leachate, a liquid formed when water filters through waste as it breaks down.

In 2023, Clover Flat was fined over $600,000 after a joint investigation with the Water Board and other agencies found that, among other violations, 40,000 gallons of contaminated stormwater were allegedly discharged from the landfill into a nearby stream.

Last month, local activists and seven nonprofit organizations submitted a letter calling on officials to shut down both Clover Flat and Upper Valley Disposal Services (UVDS), a related garbage collection, recycling and composting operation also owned by Waste Connections. Earlier in August, investigators from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) visited UVDS as part of a sweeping investigation in Napa County and recovered boxes from the facility, according to a local news outlet.

In 2023, more than 20 former and then-current employees of the sites filed a formal complaint to federal and state agencies alleging decades-long “clearly negligent practices” in the management of “toxic and hazardous materials at UVDS/[Clover Flat].”

(Featured image: Clover Flat Landfill. Drone photo by environmental activist Anne Wheaton.)