Eduardo Davila moved his wife and kids from Laredo 20 miles east to a colonia called Ranchitos Los Centenarios because he thought the fresh air would be good for their asthma. “After two years, the asthma had disappeared completely because the air is pure here,” says Davila, speaking in Spanish. “We want this unpolluted environment to continue to exist.” Now, Davila and a dozen of his neighbors are meeting in a home just downwind from what could soon be the garbage capital of South Texas. Most are wearing red T-shirts with the words “No Landfill” printed on them. Hundreds of families live in these communities. And they’re worried. “No lo queremos aqui,” says Olga Carrasco: “We don’t want it here.” A Laredo oilman is looking to build one of the largest landfills in Texas on ranch land nearby. The dumpsite would be one of a fraction statewide that will welcome what’s called ‘Class 1’ industrial waste—which regulators say poses health risks when mishandled. These residents are part of a

Source: Texas Public Radio