Plans for expanded Nevada landfill move forward

LAS VEGAS (AP) – An energy company's plan to expand a landfill used to dump waste from burned coal roughly 50 miles outside of Las Vegas is inching forward.

The Southern Nevada Health District board has directed its staff to proceed with finalizing a permit it approved in October to expand the landfill serving NV Energy's power plant near Moapa, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported Thursday.

A neighboring Indian tribe and national environmental groups oppose the project, claiming the coal ash is contaminating rivers, lakes and springs that Nevada depends on for its water supply.

They want the health board to rescind the permit approval for the expanded landfill and to close the existing landfill, according to the newspaper.

The expanded landfill could extend the life of the coal-fired plant by 35 years.

“It was disappointing to see they weren't going to change their decision,” said William Anderson, chairman of the Moapa Band of Paiutes.

More than one-half of the 300 tribe members live on a reservation near the plant. Some suffer respiratory problems because of the coal ash dust, Anderson said.

More contamination would be a major concern because it would ruin his people's way of life, Anderson said.

“To take this away from our culture would be a disgrace to our people,” he said.

Tony Garcia, NV Energy's environmental manager, said much of the contamination in question stems from plant operations in the 1960s that predated the Environmental Protection Agency created during the Nixon administration in 1970.

Some health board members said they had second thoughts about allowing the expansion

“We are adding more of a problem and that bothers me," said board member Lois Tarkanian.

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Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com