BIA headed to court over mobile home park

Tuesday, August 7, 2007  

The Bureau of Indian Affairs plans to sue the owner of a mobile home park on the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Reservation in California.

Harvey Duro, a former chairman of the Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Tribe, had until Monday to respond to an inspection of his mobile home park. The BIA found overcrowded homes, unsafe drinking water, sewage leaking and electrical problems.

The BIA is concerned that someone might be hurt or killed in the park, agency superintendent Jim Fletcher said. Since the facility is located on Indian land, the federal government would be liable for any damages.

The 40-acre Desert Mobile Home Park, also known as Duroville, is home to more than 2,000 people.

Get the Story:
Agency likely to seek closure of desert trailer park (The Los Angeles Times 8/7)
pwday

Relevant Links:
Torres Martinez Desert Cahuilla Indians - http://www.torresmartinez.org

Related Stories:
BIA admits liability for troubled mobile home park (8/3)
BIA threatens action against mobile home park (8/1)
Torres Martinez Reservation littered with dumps (6/4)
BIA threatens to close reservation trailer park (05/16)
Dump on Torres Martinez Reservation fined $46M (03/23)
EPA goes after dumps on Torres Martinez land (3/21)
Another fire burns at Torres Martinez dump (11/28)
Board allocates funds for Torres Martinez dump (11/16)
Torres Martinez Reservation dump on Superfund list (10/20)
Underground fire on Torres Martinez Reservation (09/14)
Judge closes dump on Torres Martinez Reservation (08/09)
Editorial: Little help for tribes with illegal dumps (12/19)
Illegal dumping a big problem on reservation (12/13)
Fire burns for a week on Torres Martinez Reservation (04/11)
California tribe to use EPA grant to monitor water (02/02)
Calif. tribe gives members bottled water (02/11)
Church ordered to remove tent from reservation (10/05)
Judge asked to shut down reservation dump site (7/24)
Feds seek to close reservation mobile home park (07/11)
Waste dump on reservation told to stop burning (05/08)