CALIFORINIA SACRED SITE GETS RESPITE

Sacred Site Gets Respite


PALA, Calif. – A site in rural San Diego County deemed culturally and environmentally sensitive by Indians was given a respite Aug. 5 from being turned into a landfill.

The Pala Band of Mission Indians, whose community sits two miles away from the site, and an environmental group, objected to the application to operate the proposed 1,770-acre landfill filed from Gregory Canyon Landfill Ltd of San Diego, the tribe said in a press release.

A San Diego County public agency rescinded its previous green light on the application after the tribe and the Natural Resources Defense Council pointed out the lack of financial responsibility and other inaccuracies in the application, the tribe said in the press release.

“We want to make sure that this time the county is really looking at a comprehensive application package that accurately reflects the environmental, financial and cultural impacts that this landfill will have,” said Robert Smith, chairman of the Pala Band of Mission Indians. “The county has a duty to make sure new landfills do not destroy important cultural or environmental resources or threaten public health, and it can’t do that unless it has accurate information.”

Gregory Landfill spokesperson Nancy Chase said the application was not rejected by San Diego County officials but voluntarily withdrawn from county consideration because it needed to be updated.

“It had nothing to do with financial responsibility.”

County records indicate that its positive determination on the application was rescinded and Gregory Landfill withdrew the application on the same day.

The landfill has been a subject of dispute since at least the 1990s and the subject of court actions, including an order by a superior court to make corrections on a mandated environmental impact report and conform to the law in 2006, according to county records.

Gregory Canyon has until Feb. 1, 2011 to resubmit the application, according to the county. The applicant expects to resubmit their application later this month Chase said.

The proposed landfill is located in an area that Pala people consider sacred and home of a restless spirit named Taakwic, who appears in a ball of fire to collect the souls of the dead. The landfill threatens surface and groundwater supplies, which includes a habitat for several sensitive and endangered species and would create traffic congestion and other problems in the serene area if constructed, according to the tribe.

Gregory Landfill maintains that the project’s technology includes redundant liners and monitoring points and pose no threat to water sources.

Indian Country Today-August 30, 2010