HENDERSON, Nev. (KTNV) — A new 3,000-home development, recently approved by the Henderson City Council, will be built on top of an old mine.
The plan to clean up the more than 100-year-old mine site near Lake Las Vegas to build these homes has not been without controversy. I went to the site today to see how Henderson residents feel about the project.
What is currently the Three Kids Mine site will potentially become the location for Henderson's newest housing development. Carrie Halliday has lived in Henderson for nearly 30 years. Growing up, she says the Three Kids Mine was a location she made sure to stay away from.
"I don't think that is such a great idea. We were always told not to let our children go out there because the mines were unstable. They could fall down these large shafts."
On November 21, the Henderson City Council approved a project for developer Lakemoor Ventures to team up with the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection, also known as NDEP, to clean up, remove any previous contamination, and bury the mine in order to build the 3,000-home community on top.
"Putting homes on top of that, I don't think that is such a good idea, I think the homes will start to show cracks and other things eventually."
Three Kids Mine is more than a century old, used to extract manganese from 1917-1961. The mine has been inactive since.
According to NDEP, the mine also contains asbestos and arsenic, among other materials. The site cleanup will remove asbestos, bury the rest of the contaminants, and then fill the site with clean soil.
Associate Professor with the School of Architecture at UNLV Glenn Nowak says that any development engineers and geotechnical professionals look at all the properties of the soil the ensure the land is safe to build on.
"It's very unique. This type of site is not something you build on top of every day... Here, we are concerned about the particulates and their health impact if they were to become airborne."
Halliday says the amount of money being put into the development may not be worth it.
When asked if he would move there himself, he said, "No, I don't think I would, we were always told that area is toxic and to not go that way."
The completed project is expected to cost $400 million, with cleanup expected to begin next summer.
