Contaminated soil moved for Henderson development

15,000 homes, condos and apartments planned for 2,200-acre site

Friday, Jan. 9, 2009 | 2:46 p.m.

Two million cubic yards of contaminated soil — more than enough to cover 31 football fields 30 feet deep — are being removed from the 2,200-acre site in east Henderson where the Landwell Co. plans to build homes, offices and stores.

Crews so far have removed more than 250,000 cubic yards from the site, northeast of Lake Mead Parkway and Boulder Highway, where Landwell plans to build up to 15,000 homes, condominiums and apartments. They've cleared about 13 percent of the total.

The amount of soil being removed is about the same as the debris removed from Ground Zero in New York after the Sept. 11 attacks, interested residents were told yesterday at a public meeting to provide an update about Landwell's progress on cleaning the site.

Work began in May after 18 years of testing and planning. The project has been approved by the Nevada Department of Environmental Protection, which is overseeing the work.

"It has taken us a long time to get to the point that we can get on the site and actually get to work," said Dr. Ron Sahu, director of environmental services for Basic Remediation Company, the subsidiary of Landwell that is doing the cleanup. "It's enjoyable. It's nice to see that things are coming along, that there is less contamination. That's forward progress."

The principal target of the work are the 15 former collection ponds that manufacturing plants at the nearby BMI Industrial Complex used for more than 30 years, beginning in 1942. The pools collected runoff of dangerous chemicals and metals from the plants and held them for evaporation.

Sahu said the pools represent a small portion of the 2,200 acres. Though only 15 of the more than 100 pools that were built appear to have been used, their presence requires caution along the whole site, he said.

"We can't be sure," Sahu said. "I don't have a document that shows every day from 1942, what was used and what was not, so out of an abundance of caution, we are testing all of these areas. … We still have to test to make sure that there was no incidental use and that there have been no wind-borne particles."

So far, Landwell has collected 3,147 soil samples from 1,302 sites on the land, Sahu said. The project area has been divided into 15 sub-areas and the Department of Environmental Protection has declared one 244-acre area clean. Sahu said he anticipates that two more areas, totaling 287 more acres, will be declared clean in the coming days.

The contaminated soil that crews remove each day is taken each night by 40-ton dump trucks, which leave the site on Warm Springs Road and cross Boulder Highway to access the special landfill, called a Corrective Action Management Unit, that Landwell has prepared on the northwest part of the BMI complex.

The landfill is lined with a three-layer membrane that will prevent leaking, Sahu said. As areas of the landfill become full, they will be capped with the same material and covered.

The process has moved slowly thus far, Sahu said, because it is a painstaking one. When the soil is removed from the contaminated site, it must be done so in even layers to make sure that it can properly dry out. Crews must be careful that the soil does not become too dry, so it doesn't blow around.

Air quality monitors are set up around work sites, Sahu said, to make sure that nothing escapes.

Every time a truck leaves the site, another crew makes sure that its contaminated load is secured and covered, then sprays the truck down to decontaminate it. The runoff is collected and used for dust control on contaminated portions of the site, Sahu said.

Sahu said he expects the process to take the rest of this year and possibly last into 2010. When it is done, he said, there will be several weeks of additional testing to make sure that the entire site is safe.

Jeremy Twitchell can be reached at 990-8928 or jeremy.twitchell@hbcpub.com.

Discussion: 21 comments so far…

By bdover

1/9/09 at 8:13 p.m.

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This is an interesting situation. Why would anyone spend thousands or millions of dollars remediating a toxic wasteland near Boulder Highway, a sad area without the chemicals? Think about the liability-what if this turns into another Love Canal? Poisonous collection ponds and the like. Dangerous chemicals. 15,000 homes to be built. Do you want your kids playing around the supposedly "remediated" area? Yes, public agencies are monitoring the work-with little or no responsibility. By the time your children are exhibiting the effects of the failed "clean-up", the public hacks will be retired-or long gone. And Landwell,if it is still solvent, will simply declare BK, and fade into the night.

People, let's resolve to keep a sharp eye on this project. We sure can't depend on the city of Henderson-they're spending all their time keeping their jobs safe. God knows what would happen if they were made responsible for their actions on the job-never will happen....
By jfnance32

1/9/09 at 11:17 p.m.

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Mob?
By LasVegas2009

1/10/09 at 7:03 a.m.

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Why are they trying to build more houses? We have more empty houses in Las Vegas than anywhere else in the country. Who would finance something so costly and take a chance that not even one house will be built?
By davidcurtis

1/10/09 at 9:39 a.m.

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So they move the contaminated soil to another location, so now we have two contaminated locations. Plus the contamination of the accidental spills in route (if any).

Let's say they are successful and the site is cleaned. Who is going to buy there? Would any thinking person take the chance with their health or their kids health?
So assume some "non-thinking" persons buy there.
Eventually "non-thinking" persons are watching cable TV and they see an ad for injury lawyers...

I'm a big fan of on-site containment & natural reprocessing.

Even if everyone had pure motives, their process seems to include the habits of

1. Trucking the "trash" out to the desert to dump it.
2. Designing and building large, repetitive housing developments.
By bdover

1/10/09 at 10:59 a.m.

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"Groundwater adjacent to the site is presently being remediated for
perchlorate, hexavalent chromium and certain organic chemical
contaminants. The groundwater under the site itself is being investigated
and will be remediated if necessary."

From their report. Remember the movie Erin Brockovich? Hexavalent chromium was the reason that PG & E paid nearly 400 Million in penalties for poisoning people who lived nearby? Perchlorate is the nasty stuff that caused the huge explosion at the rocket plant years ago, and is still polluting Lake Mead to this day.

Companies like Landwell and Basic are regular contributors to political candidates, so you know the fix is in. And you also know how much we trust our corrupt Nevada and Henderson politicians and employees. Someday, we might hear about medical "problems" over near Boulder Highway. In a giant subdivision. Gee, what a surprise...
By nougat

1/10/09 at 11:21 a.m.

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From Las Vegas City Life July 27, 2006

Pay to play
Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson took contributions from LandWell, and others, around the time of a critical vote.

The LandWell Company donated $5,000 to Gibson's campaign on Dec. 14, just one day after the Henderson City Council voted to push through a land annexation of old BMI property near downtown. (LandWell owns the remaining interests of land used for the World War II-era factory.) And it seems no coincidence that Real Homes, the local division of Centex Homes, donated $5,000 to Gibson on Dec. 29. Centex Homes is planning to build residences on the BMI property, once the contaminated soil has been cleaned up.

Please click on or paste the following link. This stinks of cronyism and political corruption run amok. We are in big trouble, people. BTW, the mayor presented and pushed the approval through a compliant city council. Mamma mia....

http://www.lasvegascitylife.com/articles...
By bdover

1/10/09 at 6:03 p.m.

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The biggest concern, nougat and others, is that when the operators of this questionable operation to turn toxic ponds into subdivisions go to sell the houses-

Will the buyers be clearly informed that their future houses are sitting on a former-maybe still-site of nasty chemical ponds, poisonous groundwater and munitions waste? It's doubtful that Landwell or their enabler, Mayor
Gibson will provide full disclosure-why did they have to give donations to Gibson to get the permit? Because he's a nice guy? No, it's obvious why.

We need to demand that whoever is the latest political hack to be Henderson mayor when the place opens for sale declares the subdivision be named-

"Jim Gibson Valley Estates-where green is everywhere, including your children."
By bdover

1/10/09 at 6:46 p.m.

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Landwell website:

"This is an important historical site for us," said Henderson Mayor James B. Gibson. "This is where we began as a city. That is one of the reasons we are so excited to see this project get under way. This land is a part of our history, and with the completion of the remediation it will play an important part in building for our future as well."

Right. Gibson Valley. You're excited, we're sure, Mayor. It played an important part in your political life, too. Money eases a lot of tough decisions. Congratulations.
By annienonymouse

1/11/09 at 8:37 a.m.

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Anyone remember PepCon?? There's housing on that land now. How long before another mystery illnesses surface in that area.
By vegasvickie

1/11/09 at 12:37 p.m.

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I have to agree with all of the former posts, but what can I do about it. I get PO'd about it everytime. Who or where can I protest this? Is there a "Brokovich" type person that needs help, because I'll donate my time to help that person to stop this.
By bdover

1/11/09 at 9:20 p.m.

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I contacted Jon Ralston about this mess, but since it's several years after Gibson pulled this scam off, I can understand that he might have more urgent things to address, Vickie. The only thing we can do is wait until they actually try and sell homes atop the toxic wasteland, and then protest in person. We can only hope that we're still breathing, and that Jim Gibson is in a casino sucking on his oxygen tubes. Would only serve him right, the thieving bastard....
By joesixpack

1/12/09 at 9:07 a.m.

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You guys are so paranoid that I'm sure your the crowd that thinks there are UFO's in Area 51. Your concern of government may be well founded, but your feelings that there would a mass conspiracy between private parties and governmental agencies is as dangerous as it is stupid.

You all need to find a outlet for your angry and idle time and leave alone a company spending millions of dollars of their own money providing good jobs in this bad economy.

In short.... get a life.
By energyguru

1/12/09 at 4:12 p.m.

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You mean... There aren't extraterrestrials at Area 51?? Next you're going to tell me there is no Santa Claus or Easter Bunny!
By davidcurtis

1/12/09 at 4:16 p.m.

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poor poor "company spending millions of dollars"

(violins playing)
By joesixpack

1/13/09 at 6:16 p.m.

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Holy cow you all are whats wrong with our country. A company spends own money without being forced to to remediate are that has been contaminated since the 40's and your angry. If they didn't clean up you would be angry. Pick which way you'd like to see it go.
By davidcurtis

1/14/09 at 12:21 p.m.

Suggest removal

Dear Mr. sixpack,
I did "pick (a) way"

1. On site containment and then natural reprocessing.

Or perhaps a golf analogy: Your ball is in a bad spot, a bad lie. Do you A: dig up the entire golf course and truck it out into the desert and then hit the ball?

Or B: Play the ball where it lies?
By joesixpack

1/14/09 at 2:53 p.m.

Suggest removal

Mr. Curtis:

it's not if you play it as it lies, it how you play it. An amateur swings wildly and doesn't know where the ball lands. Professionals pick cleanly and land on the green.

The material is being moved to a LINED place. . If you're going to move it, I prefer it in a compact place, lined with fulltime monitoring, away from residences then in the material of residential subdivisions.

If its untreatable, which their website say it is, then it's going to have to placed in a lined landfill. Therefore it's all going to have to be disturbed and moved to a landfill somewhere. If that's the case, put it in the industrial complex were it is secure and where monitoring is already ongoing. This seems so simple.

I think being skeptical is fine, being closed minded is not and assuming the company doing the work is dishonest is WRONG.

I really don't think you have a firm grasp of the facts.
By davidcurtis

1/15/09 at 7:52 a.m.

Suggest removal

I'm suggesting that the premise of moving it is flawed. "Untreatable" like most terms, is relative.

Again, suppose they have totally noble motives,
what will the end product be? Look at any suburb, that's what it will be. We have more than enough of that product, three foreclosures on my street alone.
By sonkysst

7/13/09 at 10:10 a.m.

Suggest removal

I think that the bigger picture is being neglected to be addressed... I did a little research of my own. First of all neither the SNWA nor the Henderson Water Authority test for perchlorate. Which should be a major concern for all of us. Less than ONE mile away is the Las Vegas wash which drains into Lake Mead. In August 1997 Nevada adopted an 18 parts per billion limit. As of 2004 Average measured perchlorate concentrations (not corrected for non detected values)ranged from 0.7 to 58 ppm for all media. Studies indicate that perchlorate disrupts iodine uptake in the thyroid gland which regulates hormone function. The thyroid gland helps regulate metabolism and in children it plays a major role in growth and development. Pregnant women and children are most vulnerable to the effects of perchlorate. Even though a form of perchlorate has been used to treat Grave's Disease, a disorder also known as hyperthyroidism which causes an overproduction of thyroid hormones, its use in medicine has been declining over the past few decades due to potentially negative or irreversible side effects such as aplastic anemia and bleeding disorders.
I live near by. I knew of the Pepcon explosion of 88, (how many contaminants were released from that?) and had assumed that was the reason for the area to be "Under Environmental Investigation". I agree with others comments about not needing new homes to be built while so many sit empty. I think there should have been a moratorium put into place sometime in the mid 1990's. This would have made the Las Vegas economy much stronger during these hard times, as well as helped to at least delay the water shortage, saving millions possibly billions of tax payer dollars to fix it.

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