Kettleman Hills Facility receives final permit to expand
WM team succeeds after unprecedented and years-long review process

KETTLEMAN CITY, Calif. After a six-year environmental and community process, the California Department of Toxic Substances Control approved on May 21 the final  permit for the Kettleman Hills Facility (KHF) expansion.

KHF is a fully permitted, 1,600-acre hazardous waste treatment, storage and disposal facility. In 2008 WM  applied to the Calif. Department of Toxic Substances Control to expand a hazardous waste cell from 53 to 67 acres within the facility’s existing footprint.

In 2010, in response to concerns about potential public health impacts in Kettleman City, CalEPA and the California Department of Public Health undertook an  investigation to determine the possible sources of cancer, birth defects and other public health impacts. The result was that no linkage was found between KHF activities and any impacts on public health.

“Getting to this point has not been easy; on the contrary, the project team had to  defend some of the most serious allegations that could ever be made against any  waste facility,” said Southern Calif. Area Vice President Larry Metter.

Metter continued, “If there is a silver lining to this whole process, it is our Kettleman  Hills employees who kept on giving their best, despite very difficult times. I  congratulate and thank them for their efforts and support to get us to this point.”

The team included:


PHOTO: WM Kettleman Hills Facility’s employees, shown celebrating Earth Day with residents, have won a tough fight to expand the site.