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Environmental Injustice
The state's newest landfill application is taking place in Chaparral, New Mexico, where Rhino Solid Waste, Inc., which currently operates a special waste landfill for petroleum contaminated soil, has applied for a permit to operate a municipal waste landfill. It would accept municipal waste, construction debris, wastewater treatment plant sludge, and other types of special waste. The state considers the site to be
excellent, living up to all the laws.
However, residents are against the landfill, saying they already have two problematic landfills in their community. They say most of the trash will come from out of town and out of state. They believe they are being singled out because they are poor and minorities.
A spokesman for the New Mexico Environmental Law Center in Santa Fe calls this a case of "Environmental Injustice. He says studies show poor, minority communities often get singled out for landfills, because they lack political clout and are not protected by the state's landfill law. His group has filed a complaint with the EPA alleging discrimination in the case of another landfill that plans to expand in a minority community in south Albuquerque. It's the first complaint of its kind in the state.
Landfill operators contend they do not intentionally put landfills in poor neighborhoods, but merely seek out inexpensive land that lives up to the requirements of the law. Often, they say, the landfills are built far away from homes, but the community builds towards the landfill. Even when landfills are located close to homes and schools, as in the case of Sunland Park, they say modern technology makes them safe. They point to landfills such as Rio Rancho, where $150,000 homes are being constructed right next to the landfill.
Health experts say landfills, even if they emit only small amounts of toxins, can have a big impact on a poor community where health is already marginal. They say landfills also take a psychological toll on residents, with their noise, dust and blowing trash. Some are suggesting tougher laws be implemented that would require the state to study the impact of a landfill on a community before it gets a permit.