Editorial: EPA orders cleanup of a former landfill

Thursday, April 29, 1999 | 12:22 p.m.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency made the right decision Tuesday when it ordered an immediate cleanup of the Sunrise landfill, which stopped receiving waste in 1993. In September, after severe flooding, polluted debris rushed out of the landfill and went two miles downhill into the Las Vegas Wash, which empties into Lake Mead, the valley's primary source of drinking water.

The EPA found that the county's Public Works Department and the landfill operator, Republic DUMPCo and its affiliated companies, violated federal environmental protection laws. The EPA determined that the trash washout was preventable and ordered the county and Republic to devise a plan so this won't happen again.

The state of Nevada's Division of Environmental Protection tried to get everyone involved to agree on what to do about the landfill, but these negotiations unfortunately were unsuccessful. The federal government is threatening fines of $32,500 a day if its deadlines for repairing and securing the landfill aren't met; hopefully that will get the attention of those involved and result in swift action.

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