The United States Attorney's Office

FEDERAL COURT ORDERS OPERATORS OF DUMP ON INDIAN LAND TO PAY OVER $46 MILLION RELATED TO ILLEGAL DUMPING

RIVERSIDE – A federal judge has ordered the operators of a Coachella Valley waste dump that is located on Indian land to pay more than $46 million to cover clean-up, fire-abatement and civil penalties related to the illegal dump.

After a four-year effort by the United States Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and the U.S. Bureau of Indian Affairs, United States District Judge Stephen G. Larson ordered defendants Kim Lawson, Lawson Enterprises and Torlaw Realty, Inc. to pay up to $42.8 million for cleanup costs at the Torres Martinez Reservation. Additionally, Judge Larson ordered the defendants to pay a $2,362,000 civil penalty to the United States (which equals $2,000 per day of violation) and $1.8 million to reimburse the Riverside County Fire Department, which responded to 20 fires at the dump in 2006 alone. Judge Larson signed the final order on Monday, and the order became available this morning.

“This legal victory makes it loud and clear – open dumping on tribal lands is a crime,” said Wayne Nastri, EPA's Pacific Southwest Regional Administrator. “Open dumping is dangerous for human health, and can lead to fires, exposure to mosquito-transmitted diseases, and the degradation of air, water and land resources."

From 1992 through 2006, Lawson operated a solid waste disposal facility on Torres Martinez Reservation land, where he openly burned waste up to 2003. The smoke from the waste fires affected approximately 5,600 students from surrounding elementary, middle and high schools, where students were restricted from open-air activities and suffered increased incidents of headaches and stomachaches. The Riverside County Fire Department responded to numerous fires at the dump, with one fire last year burning for two weeks. Nine firefighters were injured fighting these fires.

In August 2006, Judge Larson ordered Kim Lawson and Lawson Enterprises to immediately stop all activities. On August 9, 2006, the Bureau of Indian Affairs padlocked the site to prevent any additional dumping.

The EPA and the Torres Martinez Tribe now have an active environmental program which has closed dumps, impounded vehicles caught dumping trash, and conducted public outreach on dumping. The Torres Martinez Tribe also has the support of the Torres Martinez Collaborative, a team of federal, state and local agencies that helps clean up dumps and clamp down on illegal dumping at the Torres Martinez Reservation.

Release No. 07-041
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