Little Landfills at Desert View Elementary

In 2005, as part of our community outreach, we invited the elementary schools in Sunland Park to come tour the landfill.  We were surprised when one teacher, Gloria Avalos at Desert View Elementary, invited us to come tour the "little landfills" her 3rd grade students were creating in their own school yard.

 

We met Mrs. Avalos and her students, and were amazed at their landfill science experiment.  Because the Camino Real Landfill is nearby, Mrs. Avalos decided studying decomposing trash would be a great environmental experiment for her students.

Dr. Juan Carolos Tomas, from the Camino Real Landfill, was able to add to the students' knowledge, and give them an overview of the landfill that is about a mile from their school:  Camino Real covers 480 acres, and is perfectly geographically situated as a permanent waste storage facility because the ground water at the landfill locaion is so far below the surface (on average more than 300 feet below).

 

Another plus: With landfills dry is good, drier is better, and driest is best. Camino Real is situated in a very dry location on the edge of a geomorphic feature known locally as the the West Mesa. This area is part of the North Chihuahuan Desert. Evapotranspiration (plant uptake and evaporation of water) for this area exceeds 75 inches per year. Annual rainfall rarely exceeds ten inches. For this reason and many others, Camino Real is one of the best landfill locations in the country.

 

Because of it's size, Camino Real Landfill is set to accept regional trash for the next 40 years. By that time, the students in Mrs. Avalos' class will be about 50 years old, and we hope some of them will be working in environmental careers, maybe even at Camino Real Landfill.

 

If your class would like to come tour Camino Real Landfill, please call us!  We would be happy to show you around. You can reach the Camino Real Environmental Center at (505) 589-9440.