Water district fined $10,000
The Las Vegas Valley Water District has been fined $10,000 for violating county air quality regulations.
The violation involved a diesel generator the water district was using at its headquarters on Valley View Boulevard and Charleston Boulevard.
The district had a county permit that allowed the commercial generator to operate no more than 120 hours a year. Instead, it was used all day, every day during 2007 to provide power during an expansion of the district's administrative offices.
"We actually self-reported once we realized we'd made that mistake," district spokesman J.C. Davis said. "There really isn't any viable excuse other than a lack of oversight on our part."
The county's Department of Air Quality and Environmental Management recommended a $30,000 fine for the valley's largest water utility. The penalty was reduced to $10,000 through a settlement agreement that requires the district to conduct an air quality assessment of all of its other permitted facilities.
Michael Uhl, principal management analyst for the air quality department, said $10,000 is on the high end for penalties issued by the county.
"And the reason it's high is because the violation went on for a number of days."
Uhl said public entities are treated no differently than private ones when it comes to air quality rules.
"They're not a special case. We have no allowances for them," he said. "They're to be treated just like everybody else."
If there is a silver lining for water district officials, it is that the mistake will help clear the air at valley schools.
Nearly all of the money collected in fines by the air quality department goes to the Clark County School District for air quality programs such as retrofitting school buses to run on cleaner-burning fuels.
The county keeps a small share of air quality penalties to help cover the program's administrative costs.
The water district has already paid its fine, which was due by Friday.
Contact reporter Henry Brean at hbrean @reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0350.
