Soon after, Merco began dumping sludge on its Sierra Blanca "ranch". Transported by train from New Jersey; 250 tons a week of wet sludge was brought to Sierra Blanca to be sprayed on 78,500 of the 102,555 acres at the Merco "ranch". As EPA employee and sludge critic Hugh Kaufman said, "The fish in New York are being protected. The people in New York are being protected. The people in Texas are being poisoned."

Life Next to the Sludge Dump

In 1992, after dumping began, the people of Sierra Blanca began to complain of the odor. "The chemical odors coming off the application area are not just a nuisance and a trespass, they're a health hazard - hydrogen sulfide and ammonia vapors mixed with a fecal smell are indescribable - except to say that it smells like death," says Addington, after one of just a number of complaints, "The Texas Air Control Board came down two days later and told us it was just cow patties." (3) After noting that the air was blowing from the direction of the plant, Maria Mendez said, "This morning it smelled really bad, it's (her home) about 20 miles (from the dump), it smelled like somebody was burning manure, it had a stench."(4) Her daughter Margie agreed that the," when it rain, after the dust storms, it stinks really bad." (5)

Watch a Quicktime video clip from TV Nation showing the sludge spraying. (1MB)

But odor wasn't the only problem. "We noticed strange rashes and blisters in the mouth, more flu, more colds, more allergies, and asthma since they came. We've seen a lot more sickness - especially with the kids," says Bill Addington, a local resident. Patsy Ramirez said her children have had a large number of unexplained medical conditions, "I have four children…the years not even over and we've taken her (to the doctor) six or seven times. (6) Another resident, Maria Mendez, said she has unusual medical problems, "We have experienced skin diseases, and I had a horrible problem last year… something like a rash on my body." She said her daughter, "… had a terrible problem with her face, she had blisters."(7)

The New York flu virus even made the rounds in Van Horn in 1996, a larger town 34 miles to the east. Sam Dodge, a Merco neighbor and rancher tried to sell his ranch to escape the smell, but none would buy it.

Watch a Quicktime video clip from TV Nation featuring Sam Dodge. (1.4MB)

The community repeatedly tried to get the government to act in their defense. "In 1993, twenty Sierra Blanca residents went to protest at the Texas Water Commission in El Paso," he continues. "They were told by a TWC official that they were smelling the Sierra Blanca waste water treatment plant. Sierra Blanca has no waste water treatment plant." After years of complaints, illness, and governmental inaction, in 1997 citizens of Sierra Blanca filed Civil Rights Complaint with the EPA, against the very agency whose mission it is to protect them, the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. The complaint was dismissed with no action taken.

The Bush Philosophy: Let Industry Run Texas

In 1997, Merco applied to the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission (TNRCC) for a renewal of their sludge permit for an additional five years. The company also requested an amendment to triple the amount of sewage sprayed per acre. To support their efforts, Merco hired Gov. Bush's former legislative director, Cliff Johnson, to lobby the Bush appointed commissioners (1997 Commissioners -Barry McBee, Ralph Marquez, John Baker) at the state regulatory agency. The permit renewal would allow up to 400 tons of wet sludge to be dumped each day, which amounts to 1.5 billion pounds of sewage sludge over five years - enough to fill half of the Houston Astrodome.(8)

Texas regulatory rules do not allow for hearings on sludge registrations (permitting); the only recourse citizens have for challenging sludge registrations is to file a motion for reconsideration after the registration has been issued. Bill Addington and Millie Dodge of Sierra Blanca used this opportunity to file a motion for reconsideration with the TNRCC. In response, the TNRCC Executive Director Dan Pearson filed a brief arguing for the motion for reconsideration to be denied. Pearson, hired by the Bush-appointed TNRCC Commissioners, claimed that the Merco operation wasn't a threat to health or the environment, and that "there have been no odor complaints relating to the Merco site since July 29, 1996. That complaint investigation found no nuisance conditions. Properly digested and stabilized, sludge may have an earthly odor when its is first applied, but the odor will soon disappear." The Bush-appointed Commissioners denied the motion, saying properly treated sewage sludge posed no threat, and Merco began dumping up to 400 tons a day.

Community Frustration

After the permit was granted, the New York City Deputy Commissioner for Environmental Protection visited Sierra Blanca. In a meeting with the Commissioner Father Ralph Solis told the representative,"There's something in the air that wasn't there before…" (9). Aldofo Ramirez showed the frustration in the community telling them," The TNRCC has to at least come and talk to us… they just can't say we're going to dump all you can …because it's regulation." (10) Margie Mendez, a fifth grade teacher at a local school, was more direct, "I don't think it's fair for you people to come here and shove this thing down our children's throats and say that it's good because it's not. You're not here to see the kids come in with warts, or having stomach viruses, or blisters in their mouths."(11)

Illegal Dumping At Sierra Blanca

In 1999, Merco admitted that it had spread sludge from New York that had not been properly treated to reduce pathogens - a state and federal requirement. (12) Merco had previously been caught spreading untreated sludge and fined $12,800 in 1994, a sum unlikely to deter illegal dumping on a contract valued at $168 million dollars over five years. Instead of requiring that the sludge be treated before it is shipped, as is required by law, the TNRCC simply suggested that Merco mix the untreated sludge with lime on site to bring the pathogen levels up to Class B standards. "Friends of mine that work at Merco tell me that Merco still occasionally spreads sludge without mixing it with lime first," says Addington. (13) Addington summed up the community feeling saying, "Sierra Blanca is in desperate need for a community health survey, a county survey, by an independent group …we feel like guinea pigs"(14)

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