Editorial: Protecting the public’s health

Wednesday, Feb. 18, 1998 | 9:41 a.m.

ONE of the basic responsibilities of a government is to take every reasonable step to safeguard its citizens from harm, including risks posed by environmental dangers.

It was disclosed last week that potentially dangerous concentrations of methane gas were leaking from the old Sunrise Mountain landfill, which had closed in 1993. Add to the methane gas leak is the situation that the 720-acre site is unlined and may pose a groundwater contamination problem. The landfill is less than two miles from the Las Vegas Wash, which runs into Lake Mead, where Southern Nevada gets 90 percent of its drinking water.

It isn't clear whether required federal guidelines were followed for the ongoing monitoring of groundwater and methane when the landfill was closed in 1993. One of the problems is who is responsible. Silver State Disposal Service, which was sold last year to Republic Industries Inc., had agreed to monitor the groundwater when it took responsibility for closing the Sunrise landfill and moving to Apex. But the groundwater tests were never done.

An agreement between the Clark County Department of Public Works and Silver State Disposal Service did not fall under any local, state or federal regulations, according to Ed Wojcik, who supervises groundwater for the Clark County Health District. Wojcik says no agency had the authority to require the company to monitor groundwater at the closed landfill, which holds more than 47 million cubic yards of waste.

No one seemed to have a reassuring answer as to what should be done. Into this vacuum stepped Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev. He took the appropriate steps, notifying the federal Environmental Protection Agency administrator, Carol Browner. Last Friday, Reid reported that in a phone conversation with Browner, she agreed to help the Bureau of Land Management and local and state officials get to the bottom of the problem at the landfill. Browner also agreed to look into whether the Sunrise landfill was properly closed in 1993 when local officials shut it down instead of trying to bring it up to strict federal standards.

Frankly, residents of Southern Nevada aren't too concerned what government agency is in charge of making sure our environment is safe. What residents want is someone willing to solve the problem.