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RCAC helps a tribe and surrounding community prevent illegal dumping

Environmental Project Hightlight

Where: Northern New Mexico

Problem: Illegal dumping on public and private lands, impacting water quality

Solution: Educate community on the hazards of illegal dumping and how to prevent it

The arroyos of northern New Mexico are strewn with hundreds, if not thousands, of illegal dump sites. Solid waste transfer stations are often as many as 40 miles away from rural homes, and there has been a huge swell in the number and size of illegal dump sites in recent years. Illegal dumping poses a threat to human health and water quality impacts can be significant.

RCAC helped this region of northern New Mexico identify the sites, form a clean-up team, clean up more than 40 tons of materials and introduce a public outreach and education program to reduce further illegal dumping.

RCAC held a series of public workshops and trainings with the Picuris Tribe and the Penasco Village. RCAC formed a team that included Taos County Solid Waste Division and other local agencies. The team began by mapping the size and scope of the illegal dumping problem in the Picuris-Penasco region.

With the help of the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, the team cleaned up four large illegal dumpsites in 2010. The citizen volunteers continue to work with one another and the county on a successful outreach campaign to educate and inspire the public to stop the illegal dumping before it begins.

 

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