A federal judge toured a troubled mobile home park on the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Reservation in California on Thursday. Judge Stephen G. Larson saw first-hand some of the conditions at the park, also known as Duroville. The Bureau of Indian Affairs and the U.S. Attorney's Office told him that the park should be shut down because it poses a health and safety risk for residents. Harvey Duro, a tribal council member, owns the land where the park is located. His lawyer said he is trying to make improvements and urged against closing the facility. Anywhere from 2,000 to 6,000 people -- mostly migrant workers -- live at Duroville. Some said they have no place to go if the facility were to be shut down. "It's wrong to force us to leave; we don't have the money to go elsewhere," Adolfo Basilio told The Riverside Press-Enterprise. "My family and I will be living in the street." Larson said he will make a ruling in January. He has ordered Duro to obtain leases for businesses on the property and leases for the mobile homes. Get the Story:
The "Duroville" case judge tours trailer park (The Riverside Press-Enterprise 12/21)
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Judge inspects troubled trailer park (The Los Angeles Times 12/21)
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Closing 'Duroville' will cost taxpayers (The Palm Springs Desert Sun 12/20) Relevant Links:
Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians - http://www.torresmartinez.org
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Judge to visit troubled Torres Martinez trailer
park (12/11) Troubled trailer park owner wants to be left alone (11/12)
Relevant Links:
Narragansett Tribe - http://www.narragansett-tribe.org Reservation trailer park is overcrowded (10/22)
BIA sues owner of troubled mobile home park (10/10)
Trailer parks on reservation riddled with problems (10/5)
BIA seeks closure of troubled mobile home park (09/18)
Owner of troubled mobile home park sues BIA (09/07)
Trailer parks on reservation being inspected (08/14)
BIA moving to shut down mobile home park (08/09)
BIA headed to court over mobile home park (8/7)
BIA admits liability for troubled mobile home park (8/3)
BIA threatens action against mobile home park (8/1)
Torres Martinez Reservation littered with dumps (6/4)
BIA threatens to close reservation trailer park (05/16)
Dump on Torres Martinez Reservation fined $46M (03/23)
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)
