Dumping Trash in the Desert

Can anybody hear me?

I live in the desert in San Bernardino County. The people in the Los Angeles metropolitan area have decided to send their garbage to an area near me, at Bolo Station. This project is called RailCycle. It would bring 20,000 tons of household wastes a day by train from mainly the coastal counties, and build a mountain 40 stories high on a dry lake over the course of 100 years.

We don’t want your garbage. We don’t need your garbage. There are alternatives to dumping this filth in our desert, to poisoning the water and the air and the futures of the folks who live out here. You have a responsibility to develop those alternatives. “Out of sight, out of mind” is not an acceptable course to follow.

The officials who run San Bernardino County habitually ignore the interests of their desert residents, and don’t have the vision to see the positive potential of their desert areas. They are also closing their eyes to the ultimate terrible dollar costs to our county. In the desert we are screaming, we are trying everything we can think of. How can we stop this desecration?

I don’t want to be “victimized.” But some millions of carelessly blind people in the overdeveloped areas are ignorantly content to dump their trash on the folks out here and on the irreplaceable desert. And the power all seems to be theirs.

Take responsibility. The remote location you’re planning to hide your trash in is a home to many, and the heart of a beloved desert land. Rethink this poisonous plan. Find out about your RailCycle plan, and stop it. We need your help.

CHRISTINE CARRAHER

Twentynine Palms