News briefs for June 4, 2003

Wednesday, June 4, 2003 | 10:48 a.m.

Rising ozone levels prompt alert

Clark County air quality officials issued a pollution advisory urging children and other residents with lung problems to stay indoors today as ozone levels in the Las Vegas Valley rise with the unseasonably hot temperatures.

Several days in a row of warm, sunny weather and stagnant air have caused ozone levels to build during daytime hours in Southern Nevada.

Under air quality advisories, active children and adults and people with respiratory diseases such as asthma should limit outdoor activities.

Ozone, a key ingredient of urban smog, becomes an air pollutant in summer, when strong sunlight and stagnant weather combine with vehicle exhaust and other fumes at ground level.

The Las Vegas Valley is at risk of failing to comply with federal Environmental Protection Agency health standards for ozone. Local officials are conducting studies to determine the makeup of local ozone pollution and its primary sources.

Senators give up stamp allowance

The state Senate has agreed to forgo its allowance for such things as stamps, newspapers and telephone calls.

The lawmakers normally get $60 in a regular legislative session for these and other items. The senators approved a resolution forgoing that money.

They will receive their usual $130-a-day pay plus their $85 per diem.

Leukemia victim's parents file suit

The parents of a boy who died of leukemia have sued Fallon, several companies and others, claiming that pollution caused the Fallon leukemia cluster and public officials covered it up.

Richard and Pilar Jernee's lawsuit, filed late Friday in Washoe County District Court in Reno, is the first wrongful death complaint related to the leukemia cluster that has sickened 16 children and killed three since 1997.

In 2001, their 10-year-old son, Adam, became the first to die in the mysterious cancer cluster in the small Navy town 60 miles east of Reno.

While a two-year federal investigation failed to find a cause of the cluster, the lawsuit alleges environmental contamination, including jet fuel and tungsten, sparked the outbreak.

The complaint seeks more than $10,000 in damages for wrongful death, negligence and fraud. It also seeks more than $10,000 in punitive damages.