Kettleman City Residents Warn Pending Hazardous Waste Landfill Permit Risks Human Health
For Immediate Distribution
November 12, 2026
Kettleman City Residents Warn Pending Hazardous Waste Landfill Permit Risks Human Health
Community calls for stronger protections from CA Department of Toxic Substances Control prior to January permit renewal
KETTLEMAN CITY, Calif. — Kettleman City, a community of approximately 1,200 people in Kings County, sits in the shadow of the Kettleman Hills Hazardous Waste Landfill (Facility). The Facility has been operating on an expired permit since 2013 and has petitioned the Department of Toxic Substances Control (Department) to renew its operations permit. Community members have warned that the permit lacks protections for the health and safety of people living near the Facility and demand the Department add such protections before deciding on the renewal in January 2027.
Chemical Waste Management Inc. (Chem Waste) owns and operates the Facility, one of two hazardous waste landfills in the State of California. In 2025, the Facility accepted approximately 260,000 tons of hazardous waste and 110,000 tons of municipal waste. The Facility has a poor track record since it began operations nearly 50 years ago. In 2013, Chem Waste was fined $311,194 by the California Attorney General for failing to comply with hazardous waste disposal laws.
Kettleman City residents face multiple environmental burdens. The community ranks in the 93rd percentile on CalEnviroScreen 5.0, among the most polluted and disadvantaged communities in the State of California.1 The Facility accepts polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other industrial and household hazardous wastes. PCB exposure can lead to birth defects; around 2009, many children were born with birth defects including cleft palates. Traffic on Interstate 5 and State Route 41, including up to 400 truck trips to and from the Kettleman Hills Facility each day, contributes to severe air pollution in the community.
Kettleman City residents came together in 1987 to form a community-based organization, El Pueblo para El Aire y Agua Limpio (El Pueblo), to advocate for their health and safety. When the Department released a draft permit for the Facility in 2024, El Pueblo worked with California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) to evaluate the draft language and determined it lacked community health protections.
“As an unincorporated community, Kettleman City experiences many injustices including disproportionate pollution burdens from the hazardous waste landfill. We want a permit that is powerful and holds the polluter accountable,” says Miguel Alatorre, President of El Pueblo. “The Department of Toxic Substances Control must set the standard for California on what environmental regulations can look like.”
El Pueblo recommends that the Department require Chem Waste to mitigate health risks if the Facility’s operations will exceed one in one million cancer risks established by the US Environmental Protection Agency. El Pueblo also demands that the Department require Chem Waste to monitor air quality and human health risks of PCBs and other toxic materials present in Kettleman City. Additionally, the group urges the Department to require Chem Waste to notify the community when leaks, spills, and other incidents take place at the Facility.
CRLA and El Pueblo also submitted a comment letter to the Department in September 2025. Learn more about the community’s fight against hazardous waste pollution via this video.
###
Media Contact
Victoria Santillan, Community Worker
California Rural Legal Assistance Inc.
[email protected]
(559) 908-3003
About California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc.
California Rural Legal Assistance, Inc. (CRLA) is an anti-poverty law firm that dismantles unjust systems through community lawyering in California’s historically rural areas. We work with people priced out of private legal representation so they can uphold civil rights in housing, employment, health, and public education. Through our 17 Rural Justice Centers, communities can access a broad range of legal tools, including direct legal services, place-based advocacy to expand equity in civic institutions, and specialized litigation to advance civil rights.
