Air District Hearing Board order mandates stronger pollution controls and odor monitoring at Newby Island landfill

The Hearing Board’s order responds to years of complaints from South Bay residents by requiring the facility to control hazardous landfill gas emissions, monitor its pollution in real time, and reduce the odors that have affected neighborhoods in Milpitas, San Jose, Fremont and Newark. A 2024 Air District study found Newby to be a major source of those odors. The main culprit, hydrogen sulfide, is linked to headaches, nausea, difficulty breathing and worsening asthma, and residents have tied these symptoms to the smell in their complaints to the Air District.

“Families in the South Bay have lived with persistent odors and uncertainty about what is in the air near their homes,” said Dr. Philip Fine, executive officer of the Air District. “This order establishes enforceable deadlines, stronger monitoring and clear consequences if Newby Island fails to comply. The facility must now take steps to reduce emissions and odors and better protect nearby communities.”

The Hearing Board’s order requires Newby’s operators, International Disposal Corp. of California and Browning-Ferris Industries of California Inc., to implement corrective measures that include:

• Installing a continuous emissions monitoring system that provides real time, verifiable data for hydrogen sulfide emissions.
• Automating the landfill gas collection system to enable continuous, real-time monitoring and adjustments of gas wells to ensure they comply with regulatory standards.
• Enhancing landfill field inspections using drone technology to improve methane leak detection.
• Deploying fenceline air monitors to measure and track odors from the facility

The Hearing Board’s order builds on a December 11, 2025, notice in which the Air District ordered Newby to install continuous emission monitors to track and measure the facility’s hydrogen sulfide emissions. The notice was issued after an investigation by the Air District revealed the facility had been improperly measuring the landfill’s hydrogen sulfide emissions, resulting in an underreporting of pollution concentrations.

The Air District will monitor Newby’s compliance with all terms of the Hearing Board’s order and will pursue further enforcement action if obligations are not met on schedule. For more information, visit baaqmd.gov or report an air quality complaint at baaqmd.gov/complaints or by calling 1-800-334-ODOR.

Newby’s operators are also liable for fines for the violations that gave rise to today’s Order for Abatement. The Air District will assess those fines through a separate process, as the Hearing Board does not have jurisdiction to order violators to pay monetary penalties.

View press release(197 Kb PDF, 2 pgs, posted 26/08/2026).