Ninth Circuit panel halts Eagle Mountain landfill

Nov. 10, 2009 | Molly Peterson | KPCC

A controversial land swap that would locate the world's largest landfill near Joshua Tree National Monument has again been stopped after a new appeals court ruling.

For the last 20 years, the Kaiser Corporation’s tried to develop a landfill on property at Eagle Mountain. Not just any landfill – Eagle Mountain would take in 20,000 tons of garbage a day, 6 days a week, 16 hours a day at its peak.

CA/Local News

Kaiser sought to swap land with the federal Bureau of Land Management to amass enough property for its dumping needs. The mining company obtained permits and cleared state court challenges.

But the National Parks Conservation Association and a desert-area couple challenged the swap deal in federal court, and a judge blocked it. Now an appeals court has upheld that ruling.

Judges determined that the federal land agency focused too much on the company's goals for the land, and not enough on the public interest. The court also found fault with the agency's scrutiny of environmental effects.

Kaiser Ventures and the BLM could still appeal the decision. Conservation groups and desert dwellers call the ruling a major victory in a 20-year dispute over the fate of the Eagle Mountain project.

Rick
4 months ago

Anybody have a map that shows where this landfill was going to be?

Sj
3 months, 4 weeks ago

http://www.lacsd.org/images/departments/wastebyrail/WBRpopups/WBRLFs1_Bg.jpg

See the above link for a general map. Eagle Mountain is on the southeast border of Joshua Tree National Park. The desert area couple are Larry and Donna Charpied, proprieters La Ronna Jojoba Company in the area where they produce organic jojoba oil.

Sj
3 months, 4 weeks ago

http://www.lacsd.org/info/waste_by_rail/default.asp

The link I posted above doesn't seem to fit in the frame. Try the shorter one above and scroll down to see the "Waste by Rail" landfills map.

Kevin
3 months, 4 weeks ago

This is good news, but does Molly know that Joshua Tree is a National Park and not a National Monument?

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