Materials considered toxic waste by California are being sent to Arizona and winding up in state landfills.
This was highlighted in an investigation done by the independent news organization CalMatters.
"California is continuing to dump its hazardous waste in regular landfills in Arizona," said investigative reporter Robert Lewis.
He tells ABC15 that since 2018 California developers, environmental consultants and even the state's hazardous waste watchdog group, the Department of Toxic Substances Control, have trucked and dumped 660,000 tons of hazardous materials, including heavy metals and chemicals, to landfills in La Paz and Yuma counties.
"We have our own regulations where we consider certain waste to be hazardous that doesn't meet the federal definition of hazardous," Lewis said. "Arizona, in contrast, follows the federal law."
While there are specialized facilities in the Golden State that treat toxic waste, transporting it to states with weaker regulations, like Arizona, is a cheaper alternative.
It's actually cheaper to just take it over the border and dump it at a regular landfill. It's anywhere from 20% to 60% cheaper on a project which on a large project can be hundreds of thousands of dollars," he said.
Dealing with hazardous waste in Arizona continues to happen.
City of Yuma councilmember Michael Shelton is voicing his concern and disapproval of a potential hazardous waste facility operating in his city.
"How do you decide to take those chemicals and hold them for a while in a heavily populated area," he explained, referring to the environmental service company AA Sydcol that operates in both Arizona and California.
It's looking to truck and store hundreds of thousands of gallons of hazardous waste in a facility near homes, businesses and farmland.
"We don't want to be touched by that," says councilmember Shelton.
It's been approved so far by the Yuma County Planning and Zoning Commission along with the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality.
The final hurdle is the upcoming June hearing by the Yuma County Board of Supervisors. Councilmember Shelton is hoping they vote 'No' on the facility.
