Airport proposal draws opposition

A Clark County plan to build a 6,500-acre cargo airport 30 miles southwest of Las Vegas is endorsed by the Nevada congressional delegation but opposed by environmentalists, who cite such issues as leapfrog development, air pollution, traffic and noise.

Randy Harness of the Sierra Club's Clean Air Project said the public has not been included in the planning process or the debate on whether to sell federal land to make the airport possible.

Such leapfrog development, which means developing land that does not border other developed land, would eventually lead to choking the Interstate 15 corridor between Las Vegas resorts and casinos at the state line, he said.

Nevada's congressional delegation, however, supports the second airport. The Senate, with Sens. Richard Bryan and Harry Reid, both D-Nev., voting in favor, already has approved the land sale.

Reps. John Ensign and Jim Gibbons, both R-Nev., testified in favor of the proposal in the House Committee on Resources, which is still considering the issue.

Gibbons introduced the bill in April in the House to set aside the 6,500 acres of public land for Clark County to buy at fair market value. The site is touted as being far enough from McCarran International Airport and Nellis Air Force Base to serve as a second gateway to urban Las Vegas.

McCarran International Airport is ranked as one of the busiest airports in the country, receiving about 15 million passengers a year.

A private group, Dumez-GTM from Europe, and Hamilton Associates expressed interest in developing the hub for cargo aircraft. The county would control and manage the private airport.

The Nevada Development Authority and the Nevada Alliance for Defense, Energy and Business support the airport as wells as development of a surrounding industrial park.

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