Reid, Rhoads account challenged

The Gibbons administration has questioned an essay written by two senators on a planned dump in Nevada. Republican state legislator Dean Rhoads and Democratic U.S. Sen. Harry Reid wrote an opinion piece for the Reno Gazette-Journal on plans to create a 95-year class 1 landfill for Californians on Jungo Road near Winnemucca.

The essay read in part, “The proponents of the Jungo dump claim that it will be the safest of facilities, but the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection has determined that leachate from the site will pollute local groundwater.” That was quoted in an RN&R account on March 18. However, although NDEP reluctantly approved the dump, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources publicist Bob Conrad says it has never made the leachate finding the two senators describe.

The dump must still be approved by the state Bureau of Waste Management.