Health Impacts from Toxins Are a Serious Concern
LAS VEGAS–(ENEWSPF)–August 9, 2013. Sierra Club and the Moapa Band of Paiutes filed a lawsuit yesterday in federal court to require NV Energy to clean up contaminated lands and waters surrounding the Reid Gardner coal-fired power plant. Reid Gardner is located within the Moapa Valley adjacent to the Moapa Band of Paiutes’ Reservation. The nearest homes are located within a few hundred yards of the plant. The tribe has concerns about air pollution and coal ash dust contamination from the plant. Coal ash contains high levels of toxins including mercury, arsenic, chromium, lead, and many others.
Soil and groundwater contamination at the site exceeds federal standards for toxic pollutants including arsenic, selenium, and manganese. Just in the four-year period between 2008 and 2012, monitoring wells for groundwater quality showed over 7,000 exceedances of state standards.
Toxic metals from coal ash can cause several types of cancer, heart damage, lung disease, respiratory distress, kidney disease, birth defects, impaired bone growth in children, and nervous system impacts, among other conditions.
In June, Governor Brian Sandoval signed SB 123, bipartisan legislation that put NV Energy’s Reid Gardner plant on a path toward full closure by 2017. The plant’s imminent closure means work on cleanup, which could take several years, must start immediately.
“We are all looking forward to the retirement of the Reid Gardner coal-fired plant that has for decades polluted our Reservation,” said Vickie Simmons, a leader of the Moapa Band of Paiutes’ Health and Environmental Committees. “And for the sake of our families’ health, we must ensure that the toxic waste from the power plant is fully cleaned up. The safety of our community and the future of our children depend on it.”
“Paiute families have waited long enough for remediation. Now with the Reid Gardner coal plant closing, it is critical that we ensure that the process of cleaning up the site begins immediately,” said Jane Feldman, Sierra Club state Energy Task Force chair.
The lawsuit, citing violations of the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act and the Clean Water Act, calls for the proper removal and disposal of all solid wastes at the Reid Gardner site, including toxic soils and sludge disposed of in coal ash piles, toxic coal dust, and contaminated ground water. It also seeks to require that NV Energy eliminate any impacts of airborne or underground pollution to the Muddy River.
The plaintiffs are represented by Charlie Tebbutt and Daniel Galpern of the Law Offices of Charles M. Tebbutt, P.C. of Eugene, OR, Christopher Mixson of Wolf, Rifkin, Shapiro, Schulman & Rabkin, LLP, Las Vegas, NV, and Gloria D. Smith of the Sierra Club.
A copy of the court filing can be found online at the following links (PDFs):
Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief
Notice of Intent to Sue Attachment A (1)
Notice of Intent to Sue Attachment A (2)
Source: sierraclub.org
