Manganese mine gets more time for cleanup plan

Jeffrey Libby

Friday, July 12, 2002 | 9:47 a.m.

A dormant manganese mine that has blown a fine, potentially toxic black dust over neighboring land for more than 40 years will blow unchecked for a little longer, the Clark County Air Pollution Control Hearing Board ruled Thursday.

The board directed developer Three Kids Enterprises to plan a timetable for cleanup of the mine tailings within two weeks. The developer will work with county pollution control staff.

The agreement to clean up the property east of Henderson and south of Lake Mead Drive comes more than a year after the hearing board ordered Three Kids Enterprises and two federal agencies to control dust blowing from the 150-acre site. The board issued the order June 15, 2001, after investigating complaints from nearby homes and businesses.

According to the state Department of Environmental Protection, the black dust contains high levels of arsenic, lead and manganese, three heavy metals that pose a threat to human health.

Since the order, Three Kids has done little to curtail fugitive dust, although the company has dug trenches across roads to prevent access to the mine.

The two federal agencies -- the Bureau of Land Management and the Bureau of Reclamation -- have done slightly more, fencing the area and applying a temporary dust control coating to a few acres.

But unlike Three Kids, the federal bureaus are on track to have their roughly 75 acres cleaned up by October. The Bureau of Reclamation, which owns 70 acres, has put aside $80,000 for the job, county officials said.

Three Kids, which bought about 300 acres in the area in 1989 with plans to develop homes and a golf course, says it doesn't have ready funds to control dust. But Paul Bertuccini, manager of the company, said he wants to work with the federal agencies and clean up the site.

Laird Sanders, owner of a nearby boat storage business, said the blowing dust has at times created near blackout conditions, leaves three-foot high drifts against his fences and, when mixed with rainwater, leaves purple stains on boat upholstery.