LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Strong winds this week have kicked up dust concerns for Lake Las Vegas residents living near a former mining site that’s being developed into thousands of homes.
The land across Lake Mead Parkway from the Lake Las Vegas community was once known as the Three Kids Mine, where magnesium was extracted for decades, leaving behind toxic chemicals. The site is now being prepared for a major residential development.
Irene Bjorklund, who lives in Lake Las Vegas, said contaminated dust is blowing into her home during windy conditions.
“It’s toxic chemicals that we’re breathing and have been breathing,” Bjorklund said. “All over our furniture, in through our HVAC system, we’re breathing this stuff. And every time you complain about it, they say, well, it didn’t exceed our limits.”
Environmental monitoring continues
FOX5 has met with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection on site both before and after remediation work began. The agency monitors air quality to ensure particles left behind at the old manganese mine — metals like arsenic and lead, along with asbestos — aren’t exposed and picked up by the wind.
The Nevada Division of Environmental Protection told FOX5 that “there is no current risk to the public associated with mine generated contaminants becoming airborne.”
Officials report that cleanup of asbestos and impacted soil has now been completed. In January, the Clark County Division of Air Quality issued one blowing dust violation notice for the site.
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