In 1994, the municipality decided to build a garbage dump near the archeological zone of San Rafael without informing the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia (INAH). Since 2006, it has been known that the dump sits on the southern part of the site proper and that the digging of the dump site is estimated to have destroyed between eight and ten pyramids. More vestiges of the site lie 300 meters below the dump. The municipality promised for years to move the facility and from 2006, state and federal authorities have promised to replace it with a new one farther away. However, as of 2009, the dump is still operating taking on as much as forty tons of trash per week, as the new facility was not yet finished. In 2007, a smaller, above ground dump appeared in the same area, within sight of visible ruins. During this time, acids and other substances produced by the pit have probably caused damage to the limestone of the site, eating away at structures made of the substance. The site belongs to the Río Verde Culture and its estimated to extend over 10km2. Its importance has been compared to that of Tamtoc in San Luis Potosí .