Strange Bedfellows in the Trash Heap

Landfill opponents in the North San Fernando Valley are finding support from unusual quarters in their quest to just say no to more landfills.

The Teamsters' Union - who haul trash to Waste Management's Bradley Landfill in Sun Valley - are joining with activists in fighting a new dump just down the road. One that would be managed by a competitor to Waste Management, American Waste Industries, apparently without union contracts.

Not only have the Teamsters joined up on the Sun Valley fight, they helped to hire an attorney for activists fighting the Sunshine Canyon landfill in Granada Hills.

This is not unique to Los Angeles or Southern California. Landfill opponents in a small town in Arizona have joined with Waste Management and the NAACP to fight a new landfill planned by a local developer.

They're charging "environmental racism."

Ironically, the 100 population town of Mobile, Arizona is nearly all white. But at one time, it was a majority African American town, and that's the basis of the fight by Waste Management, the NAACP and the local activists.