Reid seeks probe in horse deaths

Nevada Sen. Harry Reid called Friday for Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne to conduct a "full and thorough investigation" into the nitrate contamination deaths of 71 wild horses in July at the Tonopah Test Range.

"There are strong concerns in Southern Nevada that these deaths are the result of serious negligence in the management of the test range and the wild horse herds in the area," Reid wrote in a letter to Kempthorne.

"In light of this unfortunate event, I believe that this is also an appropriate time to take a close look at the land and wildlife management practices used on the larger Nellis Air Force Range," Reid, the Senate majority leader, suggested to Kempthorne.

The horses' carcasses were found at a watering hole about a mile from the Tonopah Test Range airfield where a former Air Force tech sergeant who worked there in the 1990s has said de-icing compounds high in nitrogen content routinely ran off the runway unchecked into the desert. The watering hole is on land restricted from public access, 210 miles northwest of Las Vegas.

While he was in Las Vegas on Thursday, Reid told the Review-Journal he was concerned not only about the horse deaths but the potential impacts on people from levels of nitrate in the watering hole that were at least 66 times in excess of safe drinking standards for humans.

"I can't imagine that we can just turn a blind eye on this stuff being dumped illegally," Reid said. "I think its something we need to take a look at."

In his letter, Reid said, "While the Air Force holds the primary position in the operations that take place on this land, the same area remains under the purview of the Bureau of Land Management."

He noted that the horses deaths "are of major concern" and that the BLM is responsible for wild horse management on the Nellis range "despite little to no regular access to this vast area.

"Similar challenges are faced by the Fish and Wildlife Service in the management of the Desert National Wildlife Refuge," Reid wrote. "This refuge was originally created to protect populations of bighorn sheep and other rare desert wildlife, yet it is my understanding that the Fish and Wildlife Service has extremely limited access to the entire western half of the refuge because of ongoing military operations."

A spokeswoman for the BLM's Las Vegas field office said the bureau is developing an environmental testing strategy that includes additional water and soil sampling "to see if we can identify the source of the nitrates."

"BLM will monitor the nitrate levels in the pond, which is now fenced, and conduct water testing on springs in the area," BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon wrote in an e-mail.

Capt. Justin McVay, a spokesman for Nellis Air Force Base, which uses the Nellis range for aircraft testing and air combat exercises, deferred comment to Secretary of Defense Robert Gates' office, saying it "would be inappropriate" for Nellis officials to speculate on a reaction to Reid's letter.

The Environmental Protection Agency delegates its authority to the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection to enforce the Clean Water Act in the state. The Nellis range complex falls under the authority of the division's Federal Facilities Bureau.