By Gregory Thomas, Travel & Outdoors Editor
Nov 21, 2024
Several miles of century-old lead-lined telephone cables laid along the bottom of Lake Tahoe, feared by many locals to have leached toxic chemicals into the water, have been removed.
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Twelve years ago, scuba divers in Tahoe discovered approximately six miles of defunct cables running along the edge of the West Shore, across the mouth of Emerald Bay, and extending towards South Lake Tahoe. In 2021, in an effort to remove them, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance sued AT&T, claiming the company owned the cables and that they posed a public health risk.
AT&T has disputed the notion that the cables were leaching toxic materials but agreed to remove the cables. However, the company pulled out of that commitment last year after a blitz of media reports detailed other areas in the U.S. where old telecommunications lines owned by the company might also be creating public health problems.
In a settlement agreement with the sportfishing alliance announced in September, AT&T said it would, in fact, extract the cables, which by an estimate from the sportfishing group weighed about 100,000 pounds.
Read more on the SF Chronicle at https://www.sfchronicle.com/tahoe/article/tahoe-lead-cables-removed-19935244.php?utm_medium=email&utm_source=govdelivery