AT&T agrees to remove 8 miles of lead cables from Lake Tahoe in court settlement

AT&T has agreed to remove miles of decades-old telecommunications lines sheathed in lead from the bottom of Lake Tahoe after a court settlement, ending a yearslong dispute.

The telecom giant could remove nearly 8 miles of the now-defunct lines from Lake Tahoe as early as this fall, pending court approval, court documents show.

The mid-September agreement between the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance and AT&T could be approved in federal court in the Eastern District of California on Nov. 7.

Removal of cables previously delayed

The case stems from a 2021 lawsuit brought by CSPA, an environmental nonprofit that sought the removal of the cables.

“This is a monumental win for the environment, the communities who drink Lake Tahoe water, the people with lake-dependent livelihoods, and the millions of annual visitors,” CSPA executive director Chris Shutes said in a statement.

The suit alleged AT&T's cables had discharged lead into the lake, violating California's Proposition 65 and posing a risk to humans and the environment.

In a release, AT&T California said it is resuming working with the League to Save Lake Tahoe to remove the cables.

"With the litigation behind us, we are fulfilling our original commitment to remove the cables in Lake Tahoe,” said AT&T California President Marc Blakeman.

How the timeline shifted

In 2023, The Wall Street Journal produced multiple reports that called into question the safety of the the cables in Tahoe and elsewhere, so AT&T moved to do its own analysis, according to court documents.

The company asked nine scientists to investigate the claims of a public health hazard. The experts found no "risk to human health or the environment" due to the cables, court records show.

“Multiple expert analyses have confirmed that the telecommunications cables in Lake Tahoe are safe and pose no threat to public health or the environment," Blakeman said. "While we’re confident in the strength of our case and the safety of the cables, this settlement represents an amicable resolution to litigation."

There are two cables under question in the suit. One runs along the western edge of Lake Tahoe in Emerald Bay. The other runs along the western shoreline from Baldwin Beach in the south past Rubicon Point in the north, according to court documents.

In a release, CSPA said approximately 107,000 pounds of lead will be removed from the lake.

An investigation by CSPA found that the cables were discharging lead due to wind-caused currents, anchor strikes and deterioration.

Elevated levels of lead were detected in water and sediment adjacent to the cables during scientific investigations supported by CSPA.

"The team conducted a structured scientific collection and laboratory analyses of water, sediment and microscopic plants and bacteria called biofilms (a.k.a. algae)," said Sudeep Chandra, Ph.D., professor of limnology and director of Global Water Center at the University of Nevada, Reno. "One sample of biofilm on the cables showed lead at 67,000 times more concentrated than a reference biofilm sample taken from a rock. These biofilms are a food source for fish, and the lead can be biomagnified as it travels up the food chain.”

The cables could be removed by the end of November, weather and other conditions permitting, but it could take until the end of May 2025 to complete.

This article originally appeared on Reno Gazette Journal: AT&T agrees to remove 8 miles of lead cables from Lake Tahoe in court settlement