A waste disposal firm that operated an illegal dump on an Indian reservation in southern California has been ordered to pay more than 46 million dollars in clean-up costs, officials said Thursday.
A statement from the Justice Department and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) said Lawson Enterprises must pay nearly 43 million dollars to clean the site along with three million dollars in civil penalties.
The order was made by United States District Court judge Stephen Larson following a four-year legal battle surrounding the dump on the Torres Martinez Reservation in the Coachella Valley, 200 kilometers (125 miles) east of Los Angeles.
"This legal victory makes it loud and clear -- open dumping on tribal lands is a crime," said EPA official Wayne Nastri.
Lawson Enterprises operated the solid-waste disposal dump from 1992 to 2006, burning waste until 2003.
Smoke from the dump affected surrounding schools, where students were restricted from open-air activities and reported health problems including headaches and stomachaches. Local fire services also had to tackle numerous fires that broke out at the dump, officials said.
Earlier this month a court in San Francisco ruled that a ski resort's plan to spray artificial snow made with treated sewage on mountains and parkland revered by Native American tribes was unlawful.
