Diapers, concrete and acres of construction debris — how illegal dumping in the desert got so bad

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Drive along one of the Antelope Valley’s long, open roads and you’ll see wood chip-covered berms rising from the flat desert landscape.

Some piles are taller than single-story homes and stretch for more than a half mile.

Inside those piles you’ll find more than wood: thermometers, tampons, electronics, street signs, and bits and pieces of dismantled buildings.

Dirt looking material with wood chips and metal with mountains int he background.

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“If we took one wheelbarrow full of this and put it in a yard in L.A., anywhere, it would be a $500 ticket,” Frank Lloyd, an Antelope Valley property owner, said at a community meeting last year.

Listen • 28:35

The dirty secret of trash: Illegal dumping in the Southern California desert

Diapers, concrete and construction debris. The open secret about trash in Southern California is that some of the waste people assume is being properly handled is actually being disposed of on remote sites in the California high desert. The state agency in charge of waste, CalRecycle, has said the scale of illegal dumping has become an emergency. LAist science reporter Jacob Margolis investigated several illicit sites in the Antelope Valley. His investigation raises questions about illegal dumping practices, accountability and the toll it all takes on nearby residents.

The problem goes well beyond one wheelbarrow.

“Now we have hundreds of thousands of tons,” said Lloyd, who added that the community has been complaining to L.A. County officials for at least seven years. “We’re killing our environment.”

Things have gotten so bad, that CalRecycle, the state agency in charge of waste, said in February that the scale of illegal dumping in the high desert has become an emergency that is degrading the environment, causing fires and posing a risk to human health and safety.

Yet large-scale illegal waste disposal in the desert is an open secret among government officials, first responders, waste industry experts and the people living nearby. It’s difficult to stop or hold anyone accountable — how to prove which pile of garbage in a remote location came from which facility 100 miles away?

A large white semi-truck turns into a property surrounded by short dry bushes and large piles of dirt.

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The problem was generating outrage and lawsuits well before January’s firestorm brought new attention to what happens to debris left behind when homes and businesses are demolished.

Since last summer, LAist has been investigating the flow of debris to three desert sites. The dumping there in part spurred CalRecycle to issue its emergency regulations.

What are 'C&D fines'?

- The residual material from construction and demolition projects, or "C&D fines," are a byproduct of the recycling process. After material arrives at a processing facility, things that can’t be recycled are sifted out. The so-called fines can include bits and pieces of asphalt shingles, concrete, metals, treated wood, insulation, electronics and drywall.
- Multiple waste industry experts LAist spoke with said such material is supposed to go to licensed disposal facilities, such as landfills, in an effort to protect public health and the environment.

One site involves more than 182,000 tons of debris left over from the processing of construction and demolition material, which in waste industry parlance is known as “C&D fines.” The debris was processed at a Sun Valley facility called Crown Recycling Services, according to reports Crown submitted to the city of L.A. Crown is operated by one of Southern California’s largest waste companies, Arakelian Enterprises Inc., which also operates Athens Services.

Between September 2020 and February 2024, Crown sent that debris to a company called Cal-Spreading, owned by Sean Irwin of Ventura, according to the reports Crown submitted.

The address Crown lists for where the debris went is a Lancaster property known as Three Points.

Debris from Crown also ended up at another nearby dump site, not far from the Antelope Valley Poppy Reserve, according to interviews and L.A. County investigation records. Cal-Spreading operated at that property, which is owned by the same Sean Irwin.

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Aerial footage shows waste piled next to Kristina Brown's property.

(

Courtesy Colin Roddick

)

Athens was told to stop sending waste to Irwin’s property in early 2024, according to a record of a meeting between L.A. County Public Health and Irwin. In that meeting, an official recounts that a law enforcement agent focused on regulating waste for the city of L.A. explained that the construction debris was not compostable and couldn’t be dumped there. Athens and Crown were not cited by the city for illegal dumping. Only Irwin was cited, in a county notice of violation, which described him as an “operator of an illegal solid waste operation” and required him to clean up massive amounts of waste.

At a third site in Kern County, officials observed Irwin facilitating the disposal of construction and demolition debris from an unspecified source, according to Al Rojas, code compliance officer for the county. In April 2024, not long after L.A. County’s violation notice was issued, Kern County Public Works told the property owner to clean it up because it “creates an immediate and ongoing threat to the health and safety of the public.”

A thermometer with other trash sits in a pile of wood.

Kern County is now preparing to fine the property owner and Irwin, Rojas said in April.

Rojas said Kern County has experienced large illegal dumping cases over the years. "This one would rank in the top 10," he said.

Irwin did not respond to a recent request for comment.

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City of Industry-based Athens Services did not answer detailed questions posed by LAist. Through a spokesperson, the company said in a statement that it “disposes of all material from our processing facilities in a responsible manner that complies with state and local regulations."

The statement continued: "The material sent to Cal-Spreading was beneficial soil material that was appropriate for land application. It was not, as asserted in your question, C&D material not appropriate for land application. Any allegation to the contrary is false."

"Properties accept material from multiple waste processors, often at the same location, and it can be impossible to determine the source of any specific material," Athens continued. "However, as Athens does not improperly dispose of construction and demolition material or contaminated green waste, we can state with confidence that we are not the source of any such disposal. Athens is committed to full compliance with all applicable regulations concerning material disposal.”

Antelope Valley residents want to hold accountable those they believe are responsible for the dumping. They’re looking to do that in court, by suing Athens, Irwin and others, seeking compensation for lost property value, cleanup of the waste and punitive damages. (No court date has yet been set.)

One of those residents is Kristina Brown.

A woman standing in front of a large pile of what looks like mulch.

Site No. 1: ‘We live next to a dump now’

I first met with Brown and her ex-husband, Colin Roddick, in the summer of 2024.

The pair have owned a 12-acre property west of Palmdale for about a decade. Just a few miles from the Antelope Valley California Poppy Reserve, fields of wildflowers and groves of Joshua Trees aren’t an uncommon sight.

Brown and Roddick spent years working on the bright white plaster walls and sparse interiors of a dozen 1940s adobe homes there, envisioning a go-to spot for photo shoots.

“ We live next to a dump now,” Brown said while sitting at her kitchen table with Roddick.

She reached out to me last year, desperate to tell the story of what had been going on next door. She was feeling helpless, having sent scores of emails to government agencies, which LAist reviewed, asking for help.

L.A. County investigative reports and satellite imagery show that between January and February of 2024, waste piles on the 160-acre lot next to Brown’s grew to more than 12 feet high and 20 feet wide. They stretched about a half a mile.

A timelapse of material being spread across Sean Irwin's property in 2024.

(

Planet Labs

)

When I visited, the sweet smell of fermented garbage reminded me of tailing a trash truck with my windows open.

“On days when that smell comes through, I get the worst headaches,” Roddick said. “Once it comes in, it’s just surrounding you. This is where I sleep, this is where I eat, and it's just constantly with you all day.”

They explained that the piles began appearing in January 2024, and it didn’t take long until dozens of trucks were showing up every day, dumping from early in the morning until late at night.

Light material next to dark material in a pile.

Though they looked to be depositing piles of wood chips from afar, Roddick found something different.

“I walked over to the edge of the property line to see what was in there, and that's where I ran into plastic buckets, old pieces of plywood, drywall composites that had been crushed up, and pieces of electronics wiring from your house,” Roddick said. “Basically anything that would come off a construction site.”

Out front, a sign read “Recycled Materials Diversion Project,” an operation run by Cal-Spreading, Irwin’s company. He owns the land as well.

Irwin said in an email to LAist last year that his company spreads mulch on agricultural properties.

“We take what we do seriously and operate with the upmost standards,” he wrote. He added that he provides “a service that reputable recycling companies pay for.”

Piles of material in the desert. Gray and brown.

California state law supports the spreading of wood chips on agricultural sites to improve soil health and to keep the material out of landfills. But the organic matter has to meet strict standards, including being virtually free from contaminants. It also can’t be piled higher than 1 foot in most instances, and CalRecycle’s recent emergency order dropped that limit to 6 inches.

What became clear to L.A. County investigators who visited Irwin’s property in January 2024 was that the material being dumped there didn’t merely fail to meet those standards. They also determined that Irwin was running an “illegal solid waste operation,” according to the county Public Health notice of violation letter addressed to Irwin.

The investigators reported finding stockpiles of construction and demolition waste, broken glass, styrofoam and plastic, covered with multiple feet of mulch, according to the records. CalRecycle says this is a tactic used to conceal illegally dumped materials.

Irwin acknowledged that he was paid by Athens-operated Crown to take the debris, according to an L.A. County Fire Department report. Irwin also said he was assured by the company that the waste was pure enough to be lawfully spread on vacant land, according to a letter he sent to L.A. County Public Health.

L.A. County Public Health told Irwin early last year to stop dumping and to remove the waste.

Berms extend into the distance on a desert landscape.

When I met with Brown and Roddick in July, Irwin was in the middle of that removal process.

Around that time, Irwin sent a text message to Roddick: “You can stop the squealing to the city. I don’t owe a thing, but I will inform you we are preparing to remove the material … So chill.” When LAist called the number the text came from, Irwin picked up.

By early September, Irwin complied with the order to remove the construction debris from his property, according to the Department of Public Health. Irwin has said in court papers that Athens helped with the cleanup. (He makes that assertion in a defamation lawsuit he filed against Brown.)

County officials report Irwin was also present at two other Antelope Valley sites contaminated with construction debris.

Site No. 2: Three Points

A picture of a pile in front of mountains with a road closest to the camera.

One of those sites is known locally as Three Points.

In July, Brown and I drove to Three Points, about 5 miles from her home. It’s the same site that Athens lists as the destination for more than 182,000 tons of material on reports they’re required to submit to L.A. city. In its statement, Athens said what it sent to Irwin's Cal-Spreading was "beneficial soil material that was appropriate for land application." In an email, L.A. City Sanitation told LAist the material sent to Three Points was "C&D fines."

As we approached, Brown pointed out where people were raising goats and tending beehives.

There were also the familiar berms — with gray construction waste mixed with wood chips.

A lighter colored material surrounded by darker material in a big pile.

“You can just see it goes on, and there's pockets of gray, and it's covered up by the mulch,” Brown said. “And plants have started to grow in. It's all Russian thistle, so it's all tumbleweeds.”

That worries her — the invasive weed feeds fires out in the desert.

As they did with the property Irwin owns next to Brown's last year, L.A. County Department of Public Health officials cited Three Points’ owners for operating what amounts to an illegal dump site. The citation lists construction and demolition debris, particle board, laminate countertops and ground up cabinetry as well as “trash, plastic bottles and aluminum cans.” Much of it hidden beneath mulch. Officials saw Irwin there while inspecting, according to that notice of violation.

When CalRecycle officials visited the site several months later, they documented construction and demolition debris dumped at the property and noted that trucks "come every 20 min[ute]s."

A test message saying "Fyi complaining is not anonymous, I know," from Sean Irwin to Colin Roddick.

In August, Roddick drove to Three Points and saw Irwin there, he told LAist. He then received a text message from Irwin’s phone number: “Fwi complaining is not anonymous, I know.”

Much of the land at Three Points is owned by Jung Min Shin and the Shin Family Trust, according to L.A. County assessor’s office records.

Jung Min Shin’s wife, identified by a company receptionist as Jenny Shin, told LAist she did not know much about the situation, but the family had passed the county’s citations to a tenant.

“My husband has a lot more information,” she said. After saying she would get back to LAist, she never did.

Her husband, a beauty company executive, did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

As of last month, the Three Points site was under administrative and legal review by L.A. County Public Health investigators and had not been cleaned up.

At least two mulch-related fires have occurred at Three Points over the past two years, including one in July, according to Los Angeles County Fire Department records.

Site No. 3: Kern County

When Brown and I visited another Shin-owned property in Kern County, just about 5 miles from Three Points, I saw a street sign, an electric thermometer, a toothbrush and other garbage sticking out from towering berms, taller than a large SUV.

The site was more remote than Three Points or Irwin’s property, and Brown became concerned for our safety. She said she was worried about the “gnarly dudes” she called "guardians of the trash heaps.”

“ So there's usually somebody that's on site that's like a caretaker — the one here at this site screams,” she said. “He doesn't want anybody there, and he's very threatening.”

No one confronted us, but her concern may have merit.

A person standing on top of a pile of material.

Kern County in March 2024 began investigating the dumping of construction debris at the 70-acre site, where they saw Irwin facilitating dumping, according to Al Rojas, code compliance program manager for the county.

When the county sent contractors to assess how to clean up the dumping, someone tried to run them off the road.

“Suddenly they were being chased,” Rojas said. “And our contractor just used their truck to ram them."

Kern County is preparing to issue administrative penalties against Irwin and the Shins, potentially issuing daily fines until the mess is cleaned up, according to Rojas.

There’s money in the trash

The economics of waste disposal is a key driver of the problem.

“They're saving money by dumping in the desert — point blank — instead of dumping at a legal dump site,” said L.A. County Sheriff’s Deputy Carlos Herrera, who patrols the Antelope Valley area.

Public documents and postings at licensed landfills show fees from $60 to more than $120 per ton of trash.

“ To dump in the desert ... it's always significantly less than a legal dump site,” said Hererra, who said he has been told that material can be dumped for as little as $4 a ton.

Karen Tandler, a former L.A. County deputy district attorney who prosecuted illegal dumping cases until her retirement in 2023, agrees with Herrera.

“If you went to a legal dump site, you would be charged for that dump,” Tandler said.

Tandler spoke generally about the economics of dumping, not about Athens or specific cases.

In addition to cost savings, construction and demolition debris processors have another incentive to dump on private desert land. The state wants to keep as much material as possible out of landfills. And in L.A. specifically, waste contracts depend on it.

Athens, for example, must meet a minimum recycling rate of 70% or face potential decertification, according to L.A. city requirements. City sanitation officials credit Athens-operated Crown with an 83% recycling rate.

Various pieces of trash including plastic bags, a tennis ball and a soda can laid out on a white plastic bag.

That rate is calculated using reports waste processors submit to the city and indicates how much material is kept out of landfills.

According to the L.A. Sanitation Department, Crown's listing of material as “land application” on their reports should have instead said it was construction and demolition debris fines.

Material that should have gone to a landfill was instead spread on desert land and counted on the reports as though it were organic material meant to improve soil health.

If the material that was sent to the desert was instead sent to landfills, Crown’s landfill diversion rate would fall closer to 50%, according to calculations by LAist that were verified by a longtime waste industry expert.

Heather Johnson, spokesperson for the city of L.A. Sanitation Department, said in December that her department was aware of allegations that Athens-operated Crown was improperly disposing of construction debris and is “conducting a thorough investigation into Crown’s operations and other C&D facilities.”

Johnson wouldn’t comment further "until the investigation is complete” and didn’t respond to a request for an update this month.

Dumping under the cover of darkness

If the incentives are large, the disincentives are small.

An L.A. County task force to deal with illegal dumping in the Antelope Valley has been in place since 1996. But an LAist review of enforcement practices found landowners, not waste processors, are typically cited in cases of illegal dumping and required to rectify the problem.

Tandler, the retired prosecutor, said dumpers take advantage of the remote landscape and lack of law enforcement staffing across the desert, at times operating under cover of darkness.

Waste processors and dumpers are rarely held accountable, according to multiple industry experts and law enforcement officials LAist spoke with.

L.A. County Public Health said it doesn’t have the authority to take enforcement action against generators of waste, haulers or those who facilitate illegal dumping.

“The property owner has the sole legal responsibility for the proper removal and disposal of any unlawfully disposed solid waste onto his/her property,” an agency spokesperson wrote in an email to LAist in December.

CalRecycle’s emergency regulations are in part aimed at holding waste generators, transporters and dumpers responsible.

Neighbors have made emotional appeals to L.A. County officials to take strong action against dumpers and landowners who allow illicit disposal on their lands. They have raised concerns about potential health and environmental risks caused by waste being spread over open land in a region that experiences high winds as well as extreme weather.

In October, L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger introduced a motion to increase fines for illegal dumping that can result in mulch fires and to strengthen county rules to hold scofflaws accountable.

The prospects for recovery

Even if the dumping were stopped tomorrow, swaths of the desert would still be covered in trash. And it’s unclear who’ll step in to pay for that cleanup.

“ That is one of the biggest problems,” Tandler, the former prosecutor, said. “Even when you catch and prosecute these illegal dumpers, what you've got left behind is a mess.” The dumpers say they can’t afford to clean it up, she continued, “and there is nowhere for people to really go to get the resources for cleanup.”

Wood, foam, cloth and rubber on what look like wood chips.

Lynn Barnes, an Antelope Valley apple grower, told LAist that he went into business with Irwin’s company four years ago, thinking he was going to have clean mulch spread on his farm to improve the soil.

But Barnes said that he found it all but impossible to use the land for farming because the material Irwin’s company dumped was so contaminated with trash.

Barnes said when he works on the land, he’s still pulling out pipe fittings, diapers, hammers, screw drivers, plastic decorations from aquariums, small toy cars and dolls.

“Anytime I disc or plow, that stuff comes up,” he said.

Kristina Brown, meanwhile, is waiting for her lawsuit against Athens, Irwin and others to move forward. A court date has not yet been set. Irwin has filed a defamation lawsuit against Brown, seeking $4.5 million in damages. Brown has asked the court to strike Irwin’s suit.

But she is determined to drastically curtail, if not completely end, the dumping that fouled her home for so long.

“I’d like environmental crime to be taken as seriously as other types of crime,” Brown said through her lawyers. “Companies won’t stop illegally dumping if fines aren't increased and jail time isn’t a real consequence.”

A landscape, a sunset and dust being kicked up by machines.

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