Dive Summary:

• Regulators in California are allowing a 16,000 acre hazardous waste landfill in Kettlemen City, California to expand by 5 million cubic yards.
• The landfill, operated by Chemical Waste Management, takes toxic waste banned from most landfills such as PCBs, herbicides and lead-contaminated soil.
• The California Department of Toxic Substances Control issued a permit allowing the landfill to increase its size, and must follow certain restrictions including air and groundwater monitoring, air and water samples, reduced fleet emissions and more inspections.

From the article:

Officials also set a long-term goal to reduce the volume of hazardous wasted disposed at class 1 facilities such as Kettleman City by 50 percent by 2025.

California has generated an average of 1.7 million tons of hazardous waste each year for the past 10 years. About 600,000 tons ended up annually in the Kettleman or Buttonwillow landfills, officials said.