7 DAYS IN THE IMPERIAL VALLEY

By RANDY STULBERG

The toxic runoff transformed the Salton Sea from a developer’s wet dream into the bombed-out wasteland it is today. Skeletons of abandoned hotels, dead fish, and piles and piles of trash dot the lake’s salt-encrusted shoreline. Dust is now trapped in the valley and inside people’s lungs… Pesticides from crop dusters, the occasional fire at a neighboring farm, and dirt kicked up into the air from the dune buggies racing in Glamis only add to the horrific air quality and bizarre landscape.

On our first day in the Valley we met our local host, Ernie. He rolled up in his pick up truck wearing over-sized aviators, a plaid shirt, cut off shorts and white socks up to his knees. Almost immediately he started telling us about his punk band “Slab City,” named for the Valley’s Thunderdome-esque underground community of outlaws, vets, meth heads, and all types of disillusioned Americans living in varying states of off-the-grid-ness.

Slab city is basically a wasteland that was left over from a military base that was torn down in the 40s. Between the spiny scrub trees and lava fields, Slab City borders the Chocolate Mountain Aeriel Gunnery Range “456,000 acres set aside for the U.S. Navy, Marines, National Guard, visiting NATO wings and various helicopter detachments.” Bombs are constantly going off. Most people wouldn’t want to call it home, but many of its inhabitants consider it the last free part of America.

Ernie introduced us to the “Slabbers” and made a bunch of conspiracy theorists, tweekers, and mentally ill folks feel comfortable opening up to us. He was totally indispensable to our trip and quickly became to seem like the very glue that was holding this fragile community together. Over and over again he reiterated how he would “live and die in the Valley,” even if it was the most toxic place in the country.

By RANDY STULBERG 2 years ago

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