It will cost $6 million to $8 million and 10 years of work to protect Las Vegas from a dry cleaner’s polluting groundwater with a carcinogenic chemical.
Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto submitted the state’s cleanup plan for federal court approval on March 19.
The plan would remove a plume of tetrachloroethylene from groundwater near the Boulevard Mall on Maryland Parkway. Masto says a now-closed dry cleaner doing business at the former Maryland Square Shopping Center from 1969 to 2000 contaminated the soil with the chemical, frequently used in dry cleaning.
Tetrachloroethylene, also known as perchloroethylene, is known as TCE or PCE.
Masto says the PCE reached shallow groundwater beneath the dry cleaner and created a plume about 6,000 feet long running mostly north beneath the Boulevard Mall and a residential neighborhood east of the mall.
PCE can cause cancer, Hodgkin’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, impair the immune system and cause other health problems, according to the Centers for Disease Control. State officials say PCE also can cause vapor intrusion into homes and be inhaled.
Since 2007, the state has tested nearby homes and installed mitigation systems to stop the vapors from entering them.
To remove the PCE plume, the state wants to install a pump-and-treat system along the east side of the Boulevard Mall to extract water, remove PCE and return the cleaned water to the groundwater.
The plan would place extraction wells along the east side of the Boulevard Mall’s parking lot to capture any contaminated water before it migrates beneath the nearby residential neighborhood. The extracted water would be treated and re-injected once it is clean.
The cleanup plan also would use other remedial methods to remove PCE vapor, including air sparging and chemical oxidation.
Air sparging involves injecting high-pressure air into the groundwater, capturing the vapor, cleaning it by vacuum extraction and then reinjecting it.
Once approved, the state plans to start the cleanup by the end of this year and have it fully in place by the end of 2016.
Masto says the cleanup will take a decade or more to complete and cost $5.7 million to $7.9 million.
— MIKE HEUER, Courthouse News Service
Burke on the clock
Burke Construction Group is racing the calendar as it builds the St. Anthony of Padua Parish Hall in northwest Las Vegas on behalf of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Las Vegas.
The $4,978,320 project, managed by Burke Construction Group Senior Project Manager Doug Schmoldt, is scheduled to be completed in time to host Christmas Eve mass.
The 16,274-square-foot Parish Hall Building was designed by John Lansdell of LGA. It will become the spiritual home for the parishioners of St. Anthony of Padua.
Located on ten acres at the cross roads of Fort Apache Road and Centennial Parkway in northwestern Las Vegas, this facility will include an arched sanctuary space with seating for almost 1,000 people to celebrate Mass and for other occasions.
Other features include two conference rooms, eight meeting rooms for catechetical instruction, parish offices, restrooms and a reception area.
Outdoor features include a monument plaza with a circular drive, a beautiful patio area for gatherings, water efficient landscaping throughout and a covered arched colonnade with convenient parking.
Summerlin clinic opens
Convenience is the main driver behind another medical clinic opening in the Las Vegas Valley.
Southwest Medical Associates, which operates more than 20 health care centers across Southern Nevada, unveiled its Summerlin clinic on March 7.
“We really looked to fill a need and we saw that a clinic in this area for our patients was needed,” said Dr. John Rhodes, associate medical director of Primary Care. “Through demographic studies we looked at where our patients lived and saw that a lot of people were coming from the Summerlin area.”
The clinic, located at 10105 Banburry Cross Dr., will house six physicians that specialize in internal and family medicine. Services include x-rays, mammograms, ultrasounds, and health screening and neuropathy tests. They’ll also work in conjunction with Las Vegas-based Quest Diagnostic in order to provide blood, urine and strep tests for patients.
“We want to meet the needs of our patients in primary care,” Rhodes said. “Patients have expressed how glad they are to have a clinic in Summerlin because it’s convenient and nice to have their doctor in their community.”
