Dumping at Reservation Blocked

Members of the Torres Martinez band of Desert Cahuilla Indians protested the dumping of sludge on their reservation Thursday, carrying picket signs and blocking the path of trucks carrying sewage to their community in this rural town.

Private waste management companies truck more than 3,000 tons of solid waste to the reservation from Orange and Los Angeles counties each week, dumping it on 120 acres they lease from Torres Martinez tribal member Geraldine Ibanez.

But tribal leaders--backed by the U.S. Department of the Interior--have ordered the contractors to halt delivery of the sludge, while the Bureau of Indian Affairs tries to find ways to dispose of the 470,000 tons of solid waste piled five stories high.

Tribal elder Alec Dominguez, who owns land across the road from the sludge heap, says the reservation’s water supply has been contaminated and residents’ health has been jeopardized by the growing pile of manure, which attracts hordes of flies and emits enough dust so that children must be kept inside on windy days.

Joseph Mirelez, 12, who spent hours protesting with his mother Thursday, said his young cousin had to move from the reservation because she became ill after living near the sludge dump. “I would like it just to disappear,” he said.