CAMPO : Indian Landfill Plan Assessed in Report

A proposal by the Campo band of Mission Indians to develop a landfill on their reservation in East County will not significantly harm the environment, according to a draft environmental impact statement prepared on behalf of the Bureau of Indian Affairs.

Tribal leaders, who first proposed the landfill in 1987, have offered a 600-acre site on their 15,680-acre reservation as a landfill capable of handling 40 million cubic yards of trash. The site is served by a rail line that would be used to carry the trash to reservation, Campo Indian leaders say.

Ralph Goff, chairman of the Campo band, called the environmental statement “a very important milestone” leading to the opening of the landfill next year. A landfill, Goff said, “is the most advantageous use of the reservation’s land and human resources” because of the jobs and income it would provide.