Beneath the surface of the Chiquita Canyon Landfill in the communities of Castaic, Val Verde and Santa Clarita, an underground fire has been burning for three years. Last month we learned it nearly tripled in size, from 30 to 90 acres of burning trash, threatening to spread into other areas of the landfill. It’s now projected to burn for multiple decades — and the fallout is terrifying.

The health effects residents report are immediate and devastating: headaches, nausea, nosebleeds, dizziness, heart palpitations, vomiting, inability to breathe, and even tremors. Some are so sick they’ve become disabled and are unable to work. One resident experienced a nosebleed so severe it required an ambulance to the emergency room. It lasted three hours and she couldn’t see because she was bleeding from her eyes.

Others have been diagnosed with cancer. Women have had multiple miscarriages. Healthy family pets are dying — including giant tortoises that normally live to 100.

This is a public health emergency, plain and simple. And yet, almost no one knows about it, and agencies charged with protecting public health are negligent in their response. They are focused on mitigating the fire and ensuring it doesn’t spread, which is needed. But they are ignoring the fact that just feet away from this fire are people’s homes, where families are impacted day-in and day-out by the toxic and cancer-causing chemicals in the air. We don’t just........

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