Informational meeting scheduled for this Saturday’s Atari dig in Alamogordo

Raiders of the Lost Atari, listen up:

If you’re planning to spend this Saturday rummaging through old trash in search for a now infamous Atari video game, you should attend an informational meeting sponsored by the New Mexico Environment Department tonight.

The meeting will be held in conjunction with Souder, Miller & Associates, the consultants hired by a production company that will film the event.

In 1983, the closure of a warehouse in El Paso led to the disposal of millions of the “E.T. the Extra Terrestrial” games, consoles and other debris. It was all bound for the Alamogordo landfill. Now, FUEL Industries would like to film a story of why, when and how the disposal happened.

Souder, Miller & Associates, which represents FUEL, has coordinated the dig. The excavation must follow numerous procedures to protect both public and environmental safety.

“The primary site hazards anticipated during waste excavation activities at the Old Alamogordo Landfill are exposure to landfill gas and slope stability,” states the excavation plan provided by Souder, Miller & Associates. Half of the excavation will be conducted in waste, but part will be performed on soil, it said.

The Alamogordo landfill is not active; it was closed in 1989.

Wednesday’s meeting will be at the Sgt. Willie Estrada Memorial Civic Center, 800 East First Street in Alamogordo at 6 p.m.