Emergency Declaration Formalized After Breach At Toxic Desert Dump

THERMAL, CA — Rain that hit Southern California on Sept. 1 caused a breach of a retaining berm at the toxic Lawson Landfill near Thermal, leaving concern about health impacts for local residents. In response, the County of Riverside proclaimed a local emergency on Sept. 5, and on Tuesday the Board of Supervisors formalized the declaration.

“The eastern Coachella Valley suffered a massive amount of damage caused by flash floods ... and, as county emergency management crews were surveying the damage ..., they found a retaining wall by the Lawson Dump had been breached,” Riverside County Fourth District Supervisor V. Manuel Perez said following the rains. “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.

All residents in the area were advised to avoid contact with rainwater and runoff until further notice.

Water testing was done to determine if additional precautions were necessary.

On Tuesday, county Department of Environmental Health Director Jeff Johnson told the board, "We did some sampling of local ponds downstream. From early results, it doesn't appear there's been any off-site migration [of contaminants] from the former dump site. Most of [the rainwater] has receded, and as far as early results go, we don't believe there's been a significant loss [of protective barriers]."

County Emergency Management Department Director Bruce Barton told the board that the heavy downpours were "particularly cruel" to areas battered a week prior by Tropical Storm Hilary.

"We had infrastructure already damaged, and there was damage to crops," Barton said. "There was significant rainfall on the Lawson Landfill."

During Tuesday's board meeting, the county Executive Office addressed concerns about damage to the "entombment covering, creating conditions of dangerous contaminated flows potentially containing dioxins and furans, necessitating the issuance of evacuation warnings to residents of the nearby mobile home parks below the landfill area."

Johnson said that the "dome" appears to be bearing up, without signs of perforations.

Rancho Mirage resident Brad Anderson, who said he has walked the grounds around the landfill numerous times, wondered how an emergency declaration was warranted when "there is no pollution" manifested in the on-site tests.

"We shouldn't take these [emergencies] lightly," he told the board. "I don't want this to be over-used and done for fear-mongering. I'm against this state of emergency."

Tuesday's declaration will enable the county to access potential funding assistance and other resources from the California Office of Emergency Services, as well as federal provisions.

"To ensure a seamless response to the impacts of the abandoned landfill, multi-jurisdictional coordination between the county, Torres-Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians' tribal government, the state, federal government and non-profits must take place, to lessen the impacts to the whole community," according to the Executive Office.

The declaration specifically asks the governor to "assist in directing state agencies [to] repair and mitigate future breaches" in and around the landfill space.

Barton noted that monsoon season in the region is not finished, and "other sites could be impacted."

—Patch Editor Toni McAllister and City News Service contributed to this report.