In 1950, Congress passed Public Law 837. This permitted mineral exploration
on certain public lands which had previously been closed to such development
activities. Joshua Tree National Park, officially designated at that time a
Monument, lost 265,340 acres from its original total of 825,340.
Some of the lands lost by JTNP were on its southeast boundary, and they
surrounded a landscape contour called Eagle Mountain. Here is where Kaiser
Steel established another of the many iron mines it owned and operated
around the country. A huge empire in its day, Kaiser Steel played a
commanding role in America¹s industrial, defense and economic affairs during
much of the Twentieth Century.

	Due to the enormous extent of ore in its Eagle Mountain mine, Kaiser decided
to expand the operation there and appealed to Capitol Hill for land use
consideration. In 1952, Congress passed another law, Private Law 790. This
gave the company use of the Eagle Mountain site for a mill and small town.
In addition, it also gave Kaiser the right-of-way through public lands for a
52 mile rail spur which would connect with the main rail line on the Salton
Sea.

	A particular condition of PL 790 has survived into the Twenty-first Century.
Referred to as the reverter clause, it has formed the basis of a lawsuit
filed by parties attempting to prevent a latter-day incarnation of the old
steel company, Mine Reclamation Corporation (MRC), from turning the former
mine into the largest municipal dump in the United States.

Opponents face off in Federal Court

	After derailing MRC's plans in California Superior Court in 1996, Donna and
Larry Charpied hoped they had seen the last of the Eagle Mountain waste by
rail project. Two local jojoba farmers, they had won a verdict which
denounced the company's environmental impact report as being deficient, and
the project as otherwise ill-suited for the geographical location.
Stung but not hamstrung by the court action, Kaiser/MRC regrouped, completed
a new EIR and formed new alliances. In no time, it had recovered all permits
necessary to continue with its project. Furthermore, in full confidence its
interests would prevail, the company offered to sell its enterprise, lock,
stock and barrel, to Los Angeles County Sanitation District for $41 million.
Watching this renewed activity, the Charpieds prepared for yet another
battle. By now, though, they were far more strongly organized than they were
when first taking aim at the Eagle Mountain dump project in the early 90s.
They counted a number of powerful organizations among their allies, and with
an expanded war chest, in 1999 they filed suit in Federal Court against MRC,
and against all agencies and parties complicit in helping the company
further its dump idea.

Give it back 

	Anchoring the suit, brought not only by the Charpieds but also by the
Center for Community Action and Environmental Justice (CCAEJ), and by the
Desert Protection Society, was the reverter clause in PL 790. Reading with
reference to the lands provided Kaiser for its mining activities, the clause
stated: [S]aid property shall revert in fee to the United States in the
event said property is not used for a continuous period of seven years as a
camp site or mill site or for other incidental purposes in connection with
the mining.

	Having closed the mine for good in 1983, Kaiser never made further use of
the property for any mining purpose. It spent the years from 83-87
transacting the largest bankruptcy case the country had ever seen. When it
emerged from that business, it had a new name, Kaiser Resources, and a new
idea how to use its properties. It announced plans to sublease a portion
of them for use as a community correctional facility, and to convert the
rest to landfill space.

	Although a prison did operate on the property from 1988-2004, opponents of
the dump who had read all materials pertaining to Kaiser's original claim to
the land, wondered, "What do prisons and dumps have to do with mining?"
Their wonder was, of course, inspired by another question: "Why hasn't the
government demanded Kaiser give the lands back to the public in compliance
with the reverter clause in PL 790?"

	Named significantly in the federal suit as the agencies most responsible for
enforcing laws as they relate to public land use, were the Bureau of Land
Management and its parent office, the Department of Interior. Plaintiff
counsel held that these agencies should have restored the lands, per
Congressional law, to the public domain long ago, and that their failure to
do so, and their ensuing approval of private, commercial use for the lands,
constituted a violation of the law, rendering all sanctions for the dump
project, therefore, invalid.

The infamous land swap

	In addition to the PL 790 complaint, the plaintiff case also accused the
BLM, et al. of favoring Kaiser/MRC in the matter of a land swap. This
transaction exchanged 3,481 acres of public land under BLM management and
adjacent to the old mine site, plus BLM¹s reversionary interest in the 461
townsite acres, for 2,846 acres of Kaiser land, plus $20,100.
BLM argued the deal was based on fair and equal appraisal values for all
lands involved, and that the lands it received would better serve the public
interest than the lands it gave. "Not so!" said opponents, their
disagreement spelled out loud and clear in numerous objections.

	The 3,481 acres gained by Kaiser/MRC are a cohesive parcel abutted on
three sides by Joshua Tree National Park lands. Putting 3,481 acres of trash
and dump operations in this close proximity to the park will, according to
qualified scientific judgment, have a devastating effect on the park's
ecosystem over a significant range.

	Lands received by the public, 2,846 acres of them, consist in 10
noncontiguous parcels. They all contain easement for Kaiser/MRC's 52 mile
rail spur, which will, if revived for the dump¹s purposes, carry seven, one
mile long trash trains twice a day, every day of the week. In addition, some
of the lands are on the Chocolate Mountains Naval gunnery range, making
their public use rather something of a questionable likelihood.
	
	 In some places, the dump operations will be within 500 feet of an open
section of the Colorado River Aqueduct, putting this water supply at
significant risk of contamination. Furthermore, even though the landfill
will be supplied with liners, inquiries carried out by the Environmental
Protection Agency have shown no liners have as yet proved impervious to
leakage. This directly threatens the aquifer which provides necessary ground
water for many people and purposes.

	 At $77 per acre for the 3,481 acre parcel, and $106 per acre for the 461
acre townsite, opponents argue the lands were grossly undervalued in the
appraisal. Considering total resource value for these lands, and considering
potential environmental degradation to adjacent public lands in the long
run, plaintiffs argue the land exchange amounts to an enormous public
subsidy given to the dump¹s corporate interests.

Finally ...

	The Charpied and Co. suit is companioned by one brought also by the
influential National Park Conservation Association. This group's action,
plus numerous public denunciations of the dump by other well-connected
organizations, have made the fight for Eagle Mountain a truly epic one. The
victor of its most recent battle now waits for the Federal Court's decision.
For late-breaking news on this subject, see ccaej.org.