Enforcement order sought on Lincoln County waste site

Tuesday, April 20, 2004 | 10:44 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- The state attorney general's office has filed a motion in District Court in Lincoln County claiming Western Elite Inc. is violating a consent decree that limits the corporation's acceptance of waste at a site in Lincoln County near the Clark County border.

The action claims Western Elite has accumulated 1 million cubic yards of nonhazardous waste at the site. The consent degree allowed only 270,000 cubic yards.

It asks the district court to order the company to stop accepting additional waste or material until it has reduced the volume to 270,000 cubic yards.

The motion also accuses the company, based in Las Vegas, of failing to deposit at least $300,000 in a trust fund intended to cover some of the expenses in the event the company closes down the site.

The motion to enforce the consent decree, filed by Deputy Attorneys General Susan Gray and William Frey, also seeks an order from the court to require the company to conduct a fire risk and temperature survey at the site by July 10, 2004.

Western Elite submitted an application in 1998 to the state Division of Environmental Protection for operation of a landfill in Lincoln County. The state gave notice it would deny the application. The company then resubmitted its application on March 8.

The motion also asks the district court to order Western Elite to pay a $50,000 penalty for failing to follow the terms of the consent decree.