Thursday, Sept. 9, 1999 | 11:45 a.m.
The Clark County Commission has directed its staff to pursue buying the closed and controversial Sunrise Mountain landfill for up to $160,000.
The commission voted 6-0 on Tuesday to start the process of purchasing between 800 and 1,000 acres that include the improperly closed landfill east of Las Vegas. Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates was absent for the vote.
The Bureau of Land Management has leased 720 acres to the county for a landfill since 1962. The site was closed to municipal dumping in 1993. Environmental problems, including methane gas leaks and a flood last September that sent tons of waste into Southern Nevada's drinking water, brought a federal order to clean up the site.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in April ordered the county and Silver State Disposal Inc. to clean up the site immediately. The EPA is reviewing a revised work plan submitted by the parties, agency spokeswoman Lois Grunwald said.
In June the county commission unanimously agreed to accept Silver State's $36 million offer to clean up the landfill. In exchange for the disposal company's offer, the county agreed to extend Silver State's exclusive garbage-collecting rights by 15 years, until 2035. The county also agreed to pursue ownership of the site, assistant planning manager Allen Pinkerton said.
Silver State officials told the county leaks of methane and hydrogen sulfide gases should be plugged in a year.
The county has outlined a purchase process that will take about a year. It will need the approval of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt.
There are two purchase options under consideration. The county could buy the site as a recreation and public purposes site for $145,000 or under the federal public land sales process for $160,000.
The extra money needed for a public land sale agreement covers an appraisal, but the public land sales could allow the county to buy a greater number of acres, Pinkerton said.
In addition, the county needs to survey 15 acres of the Frenchman Mountain wilderness study area to the north of the site to find out if it is included in the proposed purchase, Pinkerton said. To buy that land takes an act of Congress.
Once the county owns the old landfill, the site can be used for purposes such as a park or a golf course. Clark County's rapid growth has put recreation areas at a premium. "It's a great opportunity for the future of recreation in the county," Pinkerton said.
While the county and Silver State will work together to clean up and monitor the landfill site, the county's land purchase is a separate action, Pinkerton said.
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