Pressure Mounts Against Dump : Environment: Neighbors of the Campo band of Mission Indians turned out at hearings to decry placing a landfill on tribe land.

Neighbors of the Campo band of Mission Indians continued to assail the band’s plan to develop a landfill on its reservation at a set of public hearings Monday, in which critics reiterated concerns over contamination of ground water.

“Water is priceless and we are willing to fight for it,” said Donna Tisdale, president of Backcountry Against Dumps. “All we are trying to do is cooperate with the system, and, if the system doesn’t work, then we will be troublemakers.”

More than 200 people sat in the bleachers of Mountain Empire High School in Pine Valley for a public hearing Monday night on the landfill’s recently released draft environmental impact statement.

The Campo Indians first proposed the landfill in 1987 to generate both jobs and revenue for their impoverished band. They have offered a 600-acre site on the nearly 16,00-acre reservation for a landfill.

In 1990, the band signed a contract with Mid-American Waste Systems of Columbus, Ohio, to build the dump, which, if it gains federal approval, will accept 3,000 tons of trash a day for up to 35 years.

But, since it was first proposed, the landfill idea has triggered a storm of controversy from neighbors, who fear the effect the landfill will have on ground water.

A draft environmental impact statement released in February found that the proposed landfill would not significantly harm the environment. But, at Monday’s public hearings, critics assailed the validity of the statement, claiming that important information was omitted.

Tisdale said water from a well, drilled recently on the landfill site, revealed water from just 5 feet below the surface.

Tisdale cited the incident as another reason that she and her neighbors view the landfill as a “risk” to their water supply.

“We will have all of the burden and none of the benefit,” Tisdale said in an interview. “It will basically condemn the area to a life without water, which is basically a death sentence.”

Tisdale’s sentiments were echoed by Rep. Duncan Hunter, who said he also opposes the landfill plan. “You have a vulnerability here in this fragile ground-water system,” Hunter said. “These people do not have a drop of imported water.”

Hunter said he plans to ask Secretary of the Interior Manuel Luhan to suspend the public comment process so that information on all 63 well drillings that have been performed so far on the sight can also be included in the draft environmental impact statement, which only included information on 20 of the well drillings.

Hunter also said his office plans to study what effect the landfill would have on property values of both reservation land and nearby property owners.

But Paul Brophy, a senior geologist with Dames & Moore, a consulting firm hired by Mid-American Waste Systems, described the water burst as an “insignificant” pocket of water of about 20 gallons, which probably formed following a period of heavy rainfall just before the drilling.

For the Campo band, the landfill holds the potential for an estimated $1.62 million a year in earnings, said Jim West, a financial consultant hired by the Indians.

The proposed landfill, along with its recycling services, is also expected to produce 55 jobs, which would help reduce the 50% unemployment rate among adult Indians on the reservation, said Ralph Goff, chairman of the Campo band.

“It’s hard to get money for tribes. That’s what makes this project so good,” Goff said. “This is a chance. . . . It’s not an answer to every problem, but it’s a beginning.”

Plans now call for the landfill to contract with cities throughout San Diego County, using existing railroad lines to transport the trash, West said. Although no agreements have been made final, negotiations are continuing with officials from several North County cities, including Escondido, Oceanside and Carlsbad.

But, despite the lack of commitment by county cities, Mid-American officials said they plan to push forward with efforts to gain federal approval for the landfill.

“The county is in need of additional landfill capacity, so we feel that this is a site that in the long term fits very appropriately into San Diego County,” said R. Jay Roberts, vice president of landfill operations for Mid-American Waste Systems.

To ease the minds of some nearby property owners, Roberts said, his company has offered 20 homeowners an agreement that would guarantee their property values and provide them with water should their supply become contaminated.

“I can’t guarantee there won’t be a leak. . . . But, if there is a leak, it will be detected very early so that we can correct any problems,” Roberts said.

Negotiations are also going on between Campo officials and state regulatory agencies, to reach a cooperative agreement that would require tribal environmental standards to be “functionally equivalent” to state ones. The agreement would also require planned reviews, on-site inspections and the possibility of state intervention in certain circumstances.

The public can comment on the draft statement until May 8, and the Bureau of Indian Affairs is expected to hand down its decision to approve or deny the lease application for the landfill in August.

If approved, tribe officials said they plan to begin construction of the landfill by August and expect to begin accepting waste by early 1993.