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The dump may indeed be part of the solution. The federal Superfund pays Casmalia Resources to take wastes collected in the cleanup of the notorious Stringfellow Acid Pits near Los Angeles. But even this up-to-date site is a problem for the 300 people who live just over the hills in the town of Casmalia. A little more than a year ago, it seems, fumes started drifting down over the town. Jim Postiff has lived in Casmalia for 20 years, and the odor was new to him. "The first few times we smelled it," he remembers, "we called the fire department. We didn't know what it was." It is a strange, foul odor, not unlike the stench from a sodden box of cat litter. It reminds many of the women of home-permanent solution. Karen Wickham, who teaches at the town's elementary school, thinks the smell is like "fecal matter, but also sweet and fruity," and Mary Lou Smith detects an onion aroma. "What it is," says Kenneth Vaniter, "is a take-your-breath-away smell."
Casmalia is not far from the Pacific, and the stink usually rolls in at night with the fog, often strong enough to wake people. But it also comes during the day. People are driven indoors; windows are shut tight in balmy weather; the Hitching Post, a local steakhouse, has occasionally been forced to close. "There is no other topic," says Postiff's wife Paulette. "It seems that's all you talk about or think about."
Conversation is the only regular public entertainment in Casmalia. The town is a few dusty blocks set in the middle of spectacular golden foothills. The bright, bright sunlight is not flattering to Point Sal Road, the main street. Just off Point Sal stands a TV satellite dish nearly as big as its owners' trailer home. On the lot next door, a slack-bellied black horse eats greens. Early on a weekday afternoon, Casmalia is quiet but not silent: somewhere chickens crow, a toddler yelps, and Linda Ronstadt sings. "A lot of people don't like a town like this," says Phyllis Vaniter, "but we do." They may like it, but they hate the smell. During the past year, FOR SALE signs have appeared up and down Point Sal.
Because Casmalia is unincorporated, the school is the only government outpost in town, which is one reason it has become the rallying point for antidump % activity. Another reason is Kenneth McCalip, the school's principal, who has become the town's toxic-waste spokesman and organizer. Last fall, says McCalip, "it would get really yucky in the lunchroom." Nauseated children were being sent home early. One day in November he evacuated the whole school, all 21 students. "The wind died down, and the odors got so darn bad. The fumes started rolling into our classrooms, more than we'd ever experienced before. Mrs. Wickham, the other teacher here, said she couldn't continue, I was already sick, and it was hard to breathe." School was closed for two days.
At the direction of the school board, McCalip, who has a law degree, asked the county attorney to seek an injunction against the waste dump. "The county counsel told me that I wasn't playing ball, that I had teed off all the county officials. He said, 'Hey, Ken, this isn't the way we do it in Santa Barbara County.' " There was little sympathy from county officials who investigated. "The wind kicks up," McCalip explains, "and the fumes are gone. They think you're crazy." Out-of-town acquaintances were dubious too.