Illegal dumping threatens NM sensitive sites and waterways

Long after aggressive anti-littering campaigns helped clean up many roadsides and public areas in the United States, illegal dump sites continue to fester across New Mexico. The signs are readily apparent in Rio Arriba and Taos counties, where arroyos and streambeds that funnel into two of the state's major rivers are marred by old mattresses, discarded refrigerators and clusters of everyday household garbage scattered among the sagebrush. In a tract of forest originally part of the historic Cristobal de la Serna Land Grant, a community cleanup effort earlier this month cleared 28 tons of trash in one day. Clean water advocacy group Amigos Bravos was one of the groups that organized the event, and interim executive director Rachel Conn said the volume of waste they encountered in just that one area was sobering. Household waste fluids, hazardous and toxic chemicals, biological waste, oil and hydrocarbons gradually leach out of the trash, "and it all flows into our watersheds," Conn said. The Taos Junction Bridge near the southern border of Taos County marks where the Rio Grande flows downstream after intersecting with many of its most important tributaries. Researchers have consistently measured high concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, in the tissue of fish caught there, Conn said. PCBs were components of common industrial products until they were banned in 1979 because of their link to severe health problems such as liver damage and cancer. Bruce Thomson, director of The University of New Mexico's Water Resources Program, said the improper disposal of household hazardous waste -- paint, pesticides, herbicides, automotive fluids and oils -- also presents a severe water quality problem. Meanwhile, plastics and other nonbiodegradable materials clog up waterways and reservoirs. Asbestos and other chemicals seep from construction waste. Rotten food and animal carcasses send bacteria, including salmonella, downstream.  Public land managers remain largely dependent on volunteers for the cleanup of illegal dump sites, and when it comes to stemming the flood of garbage, Romero and Martinez agree that education and outreach to young people are among their most powerful tools. Martinez, who is also an avid hunter and fisherman, said he hopes continued public education, code enforcement and penalties for dumping will help ensure his grandchildren and their offspring are able to enjoy the same refuse-free public lands he remembers when he was growing up in Taos. Because of the newly authorized federal Clean Water Rule, intermittent and ephemeral streams that run dry much of the year are now subject to stricter protections, and people who get caught dumping can now face federal fines on top of local ones...more

 Refuse-free public lands?  My, my, and this is the area where Udall-Heinrich-Obama have designated a new National Monument and several new Wilderness areas.   One area should be safe.  You see they chose to create the Sabinoso Wilderness for the public's enjoyment.  There's just one small problem:  there is no public access to this Wilderness area.

Remember, if you must dump in a Wilderness area, no vehicles are allowed.  So please walk your trash in or carry it by horseback.   And, oh yes, your horse should only be fed certified weed-free hay.