Friday, 09 January 2009

By Lauren Romano

Henderson View

The LandWell Co. and the Basic Remediation Co. are in the middle of cleanup efforts of contaminated land near Lake Mead Parkway and Mohawk Drive in Henderson.

As part of its public outreach, the companies held a Restoration Advisory Committee meeting Jan. 8 to update residents on the project's progress.

"The purpose of this meeting is to give everyone an update of where we are," Project Manager Dr. Ranajit Sahu said.

The Basic Remediation Company has been studying the land for almost 18 years and in the past year; almost 13 percent of the soil has been moved to a permanent landfill about a quarter-mile form the site. 

In 1941, the world's largest magnesium plant, Basic Magnesium Inc., was built on about 5,000 acres of empty desert. Two years later, the plant was operating with the help of electric power generated by Hoover Dam and the water of Lake Mead.

The plant employed 13,000 people to produce magnesium ingots during World War II. The plant supplied the U.S. War Department with magnesium for incendiary munitions casings and airplane engines, frames and other parts. In 1944, the plant was shut down by the U.S. government because magnesium production was no longer necessary for defense.

During the next 40 years, the land has been owned by many groups and has had various uses, including several chemical and metals manufacturers. The use of inline evaporation and percolation ponds on the site led to the contamination of the land through soil and land water. 

There are still three chemical companies in operation on the site today, the basins have been discontinued and a smaller series of lined evaporation ponds were built under a permit issued by the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection.

Basic Remediation Co. and The LandWell Co. with the approval of the Environmental Protection, the city of Henderson and Clark County started restoration on the 400 contaminated acres of the 2,200-acre site in May 2008.

"I live in Green Valley and I heard about this, so I'm here just making sure that they have a good plan in place," resident David Musick said. "Whenever you hear someone is taking contaminates and going across a public highway, it's a concern" 

Trucks containing contaminated soil move the material about 1,200 feet along Pabco Road across Boulder Highway and onto Warm Springs Road to a landfill site know as the Corrective Action Management Unit.

The 40-ton trucks only move material between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m. and are decontaminated by seven people before crossing the public roadway as they leave the contaminated site. The trucks are decontaminated once they drop off the soil. 

The CAMU is lined so that the soil; doesn't contaminate the land around it. The landfill also will be capped off once it is full in about a year. 

"The bulk of material should be moved by then (January 2010)," Sahu Said. "After that, we have testing of the land there." The groundwater, cap and liner will be continuously monitored. Sahu said the cap and the liner could last for more than 100 years if it is maintained. "The soil is not wet and not going to generate gases decompose or shift," Sahu Said. 

The contaminated soil contains salts metals and the residue of pesticides. "It is not biological and there could be very low levels of radiological material," Sahu Said. Musick said that after hearing the plan, he feels comfortable with the cleanup. "They seem like they have a viable plan," Musick said. 

About 2 million cubic yards of material will be moved by January 2010. Sahu said this is equivalent to the amount of materials removed from Ground Zero in New York after September 11. Plans for the site which eventually will be called Cadence include a mixed-use master planned community. About 30,000 people are expected to live in the development. Town homes, condominiums, lofts and apartments should go on sale beginning in early 2010. 

The community would have more than 500 acres of parks and open space, including playgrounds and trails. There would be a commercial and entertainment center in the 110-acte urban core. Cadence will have four schools

More than $60 million in private funds have been spent on environmental testing and research. No public funds have been or will be used for the entire project. The cleanup is voluntary and funded by Basic Management, Inc.

An information center and web site are available for the public. The information center is at 796 Mohawk Drive and current information will be available throughout the clean-up and building of the project. For interactive maps, 3-D images, geophysics, project time-lines and construction updates, visit www.landwellco.com.