Editorial: Plan to control dust needs enforcement

Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2002 | 9 a.m.

With the federal government brandishing a big stick in the form of threatened financial penalties, Clark County has over the past several years developed plans to fight air pollution. The county deserves credit for going ahead with the plans while awaiting final federal approvals. Carbon monoxide from cars and trucks has been reduced and more reductions are anticipated. Dust, however, remains a major problem.

Although the county has paved roads and has been inspecting thousands of vacant lots and construction sites, it has a long way to go before dust pollution is under control. Dust can cause or aggravate asthma, a condition found in Las Vegas at a higher rate than anywhere else in the nation. The county has done a good job of assembling on paper what needs to be done to assure cleaner air. Now, however, the county needs to adopt the same big-stick tactic used by the federal government. Anyone caught violating the plans should feel the same financial pressure the county did in writing them.