{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"KZYX News","title":"What's next for the Laytonville landfill","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":390,"description":"The closed landfill in Laytonville has long loomed large as a source of grief in the community. Some residents of the unincorporated area and the neighboring Cahto Rancheria are sure that contaminants are causing damage to the environment and their health. The bottom of the landfill is unlined, which means water can percolate into the historic waste and then back out again into the soil and groundwater.\r\n\r\nThe local water district tests some of the nearby wells and finds that the water is free of the most concerning contaminants. But in the last decade, increased levels of multiple different kinds of salts and minerals that are frequently associated with landfill waste have been found in a well on the southeast corner of the county’s monitoring network, which includes ten wells. And an environmental consultant working for the tribe says two of the three wells he’s working with show troubling indicators. He’s planning to install a half dozen more wells this year. The state has also called for more monitoring wells, as the county prepares for maintenance on the landfill cap, drainage system, and roads on the seven-acre site. \r\n\r\nAfter government-to-government consultations between the tribe and the California Environmental Protection Agency, the county and the tribe have signed an MOU to work together on the project. \r\n\r\nChris Watt, of the North Coast Regional Water Quality Board, shared some context about what’s currently known about the elements in the county’s well, and why more monitoring is needed.\r\n\r\n“This well at the southeast corner of the landfill has been monitored for multiple decades,” he said in a recent interview. “Beginning about ten or more years ago, that well, as we looked at the statistics, began to record an increasing trend in what we call indicator parameters. Indicator parameters are minerals and salts that are present in the groundwater. And we are seeing increasing values of those over time. Landfill waste can generate those salts and...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/xZpAumwbhFUpJUYcwaQ1-q6snzOyqAm13l7cW6AWPCM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9mMzkz/NjAwNjc2OWMyZmFk/YWY2YTdmYjI5M2Mz/YWMxNy5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}