Arizona IndyMedia
by s&r
June 20, 2007

Scottsdale, AZ - On Wednesday, June 20th the Gila River Tribal Council denied Romic a permanent permit in order to operate their facility on Gila River land.

Efforts by the Gila River Alliance for a Clean Environment (GRACE) and others prevented a hazardous waste facility from obtaining a new permit through the Gila River Indian Tribal Council. For about twenty years now the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has allowed Romic’s processing facility on the Gila River Indian Community (GRIC) to operate with “interim” permits without full environmental review. However, today that all took a huge turn as the tribal council voted to reject Romic’s request for a permanent permit, while about a dozen supports looked on during the meeting in Sacaton.

Community members and activists have attended various meetings and protests in opposition to Romic (see more on the March protest here). Romic is unwelcome in the Gila River Indian Community because of repeat serious failures to store toxic chemicals properly, causing nearby workers to get sick on at least one occasion (See GRACE and GreenAction’s comments on Romic’s risk management here).

A supporter of the campaign who attended the tribal council meeting suggested that if Romic needs a new location for their toxic facility, perhaps somewhere near the Four Seasons Resort in Scottsdale would welcome such a thing. This statement was a joke, but speaks to the reality that toxic waste ends up mostly in communities of color and of low income, and has poisoned many people as well as the earth. Native people, all over, disproportionately deal with assaults to their health and land. O’odham people in Quitovac, Sonora are also fighting a toxic waste dump in their community right now. Construction of the border wall through O’odham burial grounds is also affecting the community as well (Sign the Petition to stop desecration of the burial grounds). Please also see the earlier feature on the Save the Peaks issue.