Breach At Toxic Dump Site Prompts Local Emergency In Coachella Valley

THERMAL, CA — Rain that hit Southern California on Sept. 1 caused a breach of a retaining berm at the toxic Lawson Dump near Thermal, leaving concern about health impacts for local residents.

In response, the County of Riverside proclaimed a local emergency Tuesday.

“The eastern Coachella Valley suffered a massive amount of damage caused by flash floods on Friday and, as county emergency management crews were surveying the damage over the weekend, they found a retaining wall by the Lawson Dump had been breached,” said Riverside County Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez. “This is a public health emergency in addition to the flash flooding damage that was worse for the eastern Coachella Valley than Hurricane Hilary. Ordered closed but never cleaned up, the Lawson Dump is considered to be the largest toxic dump in California and continues to threaten our communities. There are many concerns as the county team has been working on this, and we are going to need the federal government and the state to help our communities.”

Between 1992 and 2006, Kim Lawson of Lawson Enterprises ran the controversial Lawson Dump on Torres Martinez tribal land, openly burning solid waste between 1992 and 2003. Smoke affected local communities, including schoolchildren, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

In August 2006, a U.S. District Court ordered a stop to all activities at the dump and the site was subsequently closed. After years of multi-agency legal efforts led by the EPA and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Lawson was ordered to pay up to $42.8 million to clean up the land.

With the berm breach, three mobile home parks in Thermal and near the Lawson Dump were flooded with water and other unknown materials, according to Perez. The San Jose Mobile Home Park, Vargas Mobile Home Park and Gamez Mobile Home Park were under an evacuation warning since Saturday.

All residents in the area were advised to avoid contact with rainwater and runoff until further notice. Water testing will determine if additional precautions are necessary, according to Perez's office.

County teams from fire, sheriff, environmental health, public health, transportation, flood, public social services, housing and emergency management were responding to the incident, according to the supervisor. County teams were working to test the materials, assess the community for health impacts, support shelter operations and restore key access points along 69th Street and Pierce Street in Mecca.

The county is working with state and federal partners for support, according to Perez's office.

In addition to the berm breach, several eastern Coachella Valley roads and exit ramps were damaged or completely washed away as a result of the weekend flooding, the supervisor's office said.

Tuesday’s emergency proclamation is expected to be ratified by the county Board of Supervisors on Sept. 12. The proclamation could help make the county eligible for potential federal and state assistance, including repairs to damaged areas. It also allows the county to quickly procure items necessary for emergency response and repair.

A shelter is available for residents at the Galilee Center in Mecca. Evacuated residents will be provided with a safe place to stay, meals and services, the supervisor's office said.

“The flash floods on Friday came and went quickly but caused significant damage in the eastern Coachella Valley, a lot more so than from Hurricane Hilary,” Perez said. “The efforts of our county team and community partners have all been to assist the residents who are having to deal with damage in their communities from this storm. There are many areas that were affected and that’s why we quickly proclaimed a local emergency to seek any eligible potential federal and state assistance to support our repair and recovery efforts.”

Perez's Fourth District includes the Coachella Valley.

Friday's storm follows last month's Tropical Storm Hilary, which caused millions of dollars of damage in the Coachella Valley. Read more: Hilary Damage To Top $126M In RivCo; Coachella Valley Hit Hardest

The Coachella Valley wasn't the only desert region impacted by the Labor Day weekend rain. Tens of thousands of Burning Man festivalgoers were stuck in foot-deep mud with no working toilets. Read more here.

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