Escaping Environmental Paternalism: One Tribe's Approach to Developing a Commercial Waste Disposal Project in Indian Country
University of Colorado Law Review, Vol. 63, p. 933, 1992
11 Pages Posted: 23 Jul 2009
Date Written: 1992
Abstract
The media has created a steady drumbeat of stories about Indian tribes all over the country building landfills and taking in hazardous waste, implying that the waste industry is marauding unchecked in Indian country, immune from any environmental regulation whatsoever. This implication is not true, and much of the media attention has been misguided and uninformed. Tribal governments have demonstrated that they are fully capable of deciding whether or not a project will serve their best interests, and for most Indian communities the problem of open dumping on tribal lands is of much greater concern than the remote prospect that a commercial waste disposal facility may be sited on a reservation. Generally, a solid or hazardous waste disposal project may represent a viable and appropriate form of industrial development for some tribes and can provide extraordinary opportunities for economic development on some reservations. It is not appropriate for every community, but each tribe must decide for itself if it is interested in such development.
Keywords: Waste Disposal, Indian Law, Environmental Law
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