Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

Dumped McCarran rubble still a problem for BLM

Lone Mountain Community Pit rubble

Richard Brian

A yucca plant is surrounded by trash on undeveloped BLM land at the south end of Ann Road.

During a helicopter flyover in June, some Bureau of Land Management officials were surprised to see that 80,000 cubic yards of concrete and asphalt illegally dumped in 2004 near the Lone Mountain Community Pit had not been removed.

But other BLM officials say they've known about the problem all along.

The rebar-laced rubble dumped one mile west of Ann Road and the Las Vegas Beltway came from a demolished taxiway at McCarran International Airport.

"The material, from my perspective, was never lost," said Mark Chatterton, BLM assistant field manager for non-renewable resources. "I knew it was presently there. I didn't know management was unaware of it. I knew we had to deal with it in the future."

BLM officials agree that it is difficult to decide who to blame for the dumping. BLM officials noticed in 2004 that TAB Construction, which was subcontracted by the airport to remove the rubble, was seen dumping the material. However, confusion exists as to whether TAB Construction was given permission by an owner of a horse-riding outfit that had a recreation permit for the area, said Kirsten Cannon, BLM spokeswoman.

If the BLM were to remove the rubble and transfer it to a landfill, it would cost about $350,000, Chatterton said. BLM officials would have to determine who is responsible and bill them the cost.

But who is responsible is not a main concern for the BLM, Cannon said.

The reason is because the dumping, although it was inappropriate, is not an emergency, Chatterton said. Similar to the nearby Lone Mountain Community Pit, where several millions of yards of material are sold every year for construction of homes, roads and sidewalks, the rubble dumped will be sold to a contractor.

"We have a plan in the future of the removal of the material through a future sale," Chatterton said. "It is recyclable and can be reprocessed and put into road beds."

The rubble from the dumping cannot be seen from Ann Road because it is on the side of a pit, so no residents have complained about the site, Cannon said. She said the rubble looks like it sits on the inside of a waffle-cone: concealed from view.

Although sales have been down recently for that type of material, Chatterton said, he believes it will get "rolling again."

Cannon agreed that the way to deal with the rubble is by opening it up for a future sale, but before that can be done, an environmental study must be conducted.

"We are already in the process of doing an environmental study of the Lone Mountain Community Pit. We will now include this area as well," Cannon said.

The study will determine the long-term use and reclamation of the pits. Eventually the pits could be filled in and covered in grass, Cannon said.

Jenny Davis can be reached at 990-8921 or [email protected].

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