Dump on Torres Martinez Reservation fined $46M
Friday, March 23, 2007
Filed Under:
Environment
The Environmental Protection Agency has slapped the operators of an illegal dump on the Torres Martinez Reservation in California with a $46 million fine.
Kim Lawson, Lawson Enterprises and Torlaw Realty Inc. were ordered by a federal judge to pay $42.8 million for cleanup, $2.362 million in civil penalties and $1.8 million to reimburse the Riverside County Fire Department for responding to nine fires last year.
The Lawson dump is one of the largest on the reservation. The EPA has been working with the Torres-Martinez Band of Cahuilla, the Bureau of Indian Affairs and state agencies to shut it down.
Lawson is a tribal member. He declared bankruptcy after his dump was shut down last year.
Separately, the EPA has started fining George AuClair Jr., the operator of the other large dump on the reservation.
Get the Story:
Illegal dump operators face $46M in fines
(The Palm Springs Desert Sun 3/23)
Owner of illegal dump fined $46.9 million (The Los Angeles Times 3/23)
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Judge rules illegal dump will cost owner more than $47 million (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 3/23)
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Judge: Operators of illegal dump to pay $46M in fines, cleanup (The Fresno Bee 3/23)
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Relevant Links:
Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians -
http://www.torresmartinez.org
Related Stories:
EPA goes after dumps on Torres Martinez land
(3/21)
Another fire burns at
Torres Martinez dump (11/28)
Board
allocates funds for Torres Martinez dump (11/16)
Torres Martinez Reservation dump on Superfund
list (10/20)
Underground fire on Torres
Martinez Reservation (09/14)
Judge
closes dump on Torres Martinez Reservation (08/09)
Editorial: Little help for tribes with illegal
dumps (12/19)
Illegal dumping a big
problem on reservation (12/13)
Fire
burns for a week on Torres Martinez Reservation (04/11)
California tribe to use EPA grant to monitor
water (02/02)
Calif. tribe gives members
bottled water (02/11)
Church ordered to
remove tent from reservation (10/05)
Judge asked to shut down reservation dump site
(7/24)
Feds seek to close
reservation mobile home park (07/11)
Waste dump on reservation told to
stop burning (05/08)
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