Better ways to suppress dust sought

Jeff Schweers

Tuesday, July 15, 1997 | 9:08 a.m.

The Clark County Health District plans to use the money raised from an increase in the dust permit application fee to research better ways to control the dust pollution responsible for an epidemic of respiratory problems.

Commissioner Mary Kincaid, who sits on the health district board, said she wants to see an alternative developed to the thousands of gallons of water that are sprayed on raw land to suppress dust.

"One of the things I hate is that we tell people to conserve water, then you drive by a construction site and they're spraying dust down with water in 110 degree heat, which evaporates in half an hour," Kincaid said.

The fee has been raised 203 percent -- from $28 an acre to $85 an acre starting July 1. That increase will provide about $200,000 a year to research cost-effective ways to suppress dust, Kincaid said.

While chemical suppressants have existed for years, Kincaid is concerned they may seep into the groundwater or contaminate the air.

"I hesitate to use chemicals without knowing the long-term effects," Kincaid said. "On the other hand, I don't like using water when we're trying to conserve, and it's a very precious resource in the desert."

On a given day, construction activities are responsible for more than 40 percent of the dust cloud that hangs over the Las Vegas Valley, health officials said. And those construction activities are on the rise.

The district issued permits for 13,000 acres in 1996, and project another 18,000 acres will be disturbed by development this year. By 2001, health officials project 16,000 acres a year will be under construction, creating 60 percent of the valley's dust.

The dust emissions from that growth have earned the Las Vegas Valley the federal Environmental Protection Agency's classification as a serious nonattainment area for PM-10 -- particulate matter that measures less than 10 micrograms.

Because of all the dust generated by construction activities, county officials said the valley won't meet attainment by 2001 and have asked the County Commission to apply for a five-year extension.

Commissioner Erin Kenny, who also sits on the health district board, said she is bringing forth ordinances requiring attention be paid to urbanized disturbed vacant land, another major source of dust. (31 percent on a given day, according to one study.)

"We can't put down stuff that's bad for the environment," Kenny said. "We have to make sure everybody does the same thing."

Unpaved roads are another source of dust.

"I've continued to vote against ... paving waivers," Kenny said. She expects to introduce an ordinance that would eliminate paving waivers, and require the Department of Public Works to go back and make everyone pave their roads.

Michael Sword, assistant director of the Health District's air pollution control office, said the board is cracking down on dust violators, fining them a minimum $2,000.

But dust is an inevitable byproduct of growth, said Sword.

"As the growth increases the PM-10 is going to increase," Sword said. "But at some point in time as construction continues the areas disturbed are going to become landscaped and emissions will disappear from those areas."