Beyond Proposition 65 As Usual - Cleaning up Lake Tahoe

Those of us in California are familiar with seeing Proposition 65 warnings on goods. Those who read this blog regularly are familiar with Proposition 65 enforcement actions being brought against companies that manufacture, distribute and/or sell products in California that contain one or more of several hundred potentially toxic chemicals without the appropriate warning.
With the thousands of annual actions being brought under Proposition 65 for failure to place product warnings, it’s easy to forget that the actual title of the law that is Proposition 65 is “SAFE DRINKING WATER AND TOXIC ENFORCEMENT ACT OF 1986”.
AT&T’s subsidiary, Pacific Bell or Pac Bell has been given a reason to remember the “Safe Drinking Water” part of the law. Interestingly, and perhaps tellingly, it was not one of the usual Proposition 65 enforcement law firms that brought the action against Pac Bell.
As it happens, there has been some eight miles of old lead-covered telephone cable running under Lake Tahoe. Old as in abandoned by Pac Bell some 30 years ago when they switched to fiber optic cable. Lead containing as in some three pounds of lead per foot, for the entire eight miles. They then just left the lead-covered copper cable behind to rot.
A few years ago, local divers noticed the deteriorating cable when cleaning trash from the lake bottom, and it was the California Sportsfishing Protection Alliance who brought suit against the telecommunications giant, using a combination of Federal law and state laws, including Proposition 65.
In any event, the action seems to have been settled, with Pac Bell agreeing to remove the eight miles of cable after receiving appropriate permitting. If the cost for permitting and removal exceeds $1.5 million, negotiations will re-open (informed sources say that it should not exceed that amount).
There is no word on the amount of attorney fees being recovered.