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just spoke to a source who worked as a monitor on border wall in AZ and is disgusted by what he saw. Repeated destruction of protected plants like saguaro. Digging up Native American graves. Continual lapses in protocol like oil spills, littering, dangerous working conditions...
...like trucks driving way too fast down desert roads due to the urgency of the project—says he was almost hit several times. He didn’t want to go public before but now he is willing to. “Super depressing," he says. "I drank myself to sleep every night on that [job].”
Border wall construction has been paused by Biden. But we haven't fully reckoned with, measured, or appreciated the damage, which we must do before trying to address and reverse it.
This person feels some guilt for even being involved briefly. But I feel for him. It's complex. He was 100% outraged by what he saw. He reported "infractions." Nothing changed. Since most laws were waived for the construction, he had almost no official power in his role.
As you may know, scores of laws are waived for border wall work. Including the Endangered Species Act, laws protecting Native American graves. This is due to the 2005 Real ID Act—giving the head of DHS this power—and Trump's aggressive push to build new wall in the wilderness.
I talked a bit about how these laws were flouted when much wall construction was approved in March. Shocking how quickly the wall went up after that (220+ new miles of 30' fence in AZ), & frustrating to those close to it to see it dismissed (often smugly) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2020/03/new-border-wall-us-mexico-imperil-jaguars-other-animals/
And this was my last story on the wall, on Nov. 2nd. Construction continued at a rapid pace until yesterday. So much was done so quickly and in such remote areas that it has not fully been appreciated by any one person, let alone me or the general public https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2020/11/border-wall-construction-continues-unabated/
One thing the source was also furious about: the draining of desert aquifers for dust suppression. "They would have these huge cars going around watering dirt. Watering fucking dirt." I cover this in my piece re: border wall impacts on Quitobaquito Springs https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2020/07/quitobaquito-springs-arizona-drying-up-border-wall/
"I’ve never been on such a hazardous job... [it] was a goddam death trap," he says. Particularly dangerous were huge dump trucks "flying down desert roads at 50 mph," rushing to do Trump's bidding. Several times he was almost hit. ( @LaikenJordahl has filmed these trucks too)
More on guilt. "I’ve had friends judge me for being on it," he says. "I still don't know if I did the right thing."
I happen to know him well enough to know he's a great biologist. He justified it by knowing that others wouldn't do as good a job as he did. He didn't stay long.
I happen to know him well enough to know he's a great biologist. He justified it by knowing that others wouldn't do as good a job as he did. He didn't stay long.
I should probably save the rest for something more than a tweet. Anyway thanks for reading and sharing. More to come.
I'll add one more thing. This guy was injured while driving home from the job in a car rented by the company, had a blowout on highway, got a concussion. He was a contractor so he had no insurance & couldn't afford to get medical care or take off work. Still doesn't feel normal
This I suppose is just a general indictment of a system where your healthcare depends on your job status. Imagine a white-collar working getting a concussion on the job... it would've played out differently. It's personally upsetting bc I know the guy and feel for him.
Unrelated to the injury he didn't feel safe @ work. Just 1 piece of it that's unacceptable that almost seems to pale compared to scale of environmental & cultural damage.
"If anybody OSHA-related related saw that sh-t
it would've come to a grinding halt," he says. cc @OSHA_DOL
"If anybody OSHA-related related saw that sh-t
it would've come to a grinding halt," he says. cc @OSHA_DOL
