Removing lead cables from Lake Tahoe: It’s the mission of grassroots organizers
Emerald Bay is known for its beauty, with an island castle at its center, and an underwater state park full of sunken boats. But that’s not all that lies beneath the water’s surface. Two defunct, lead-clad telecommunications cables run across the mouth of the bay and along Tahoe’s southwestern shores. An ongoing court battle and investigation by the Wall Street Journal have brought the cables into the public eye. The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance has sued AT&T to have the cables removed, while competing studies by AT&T and WSJ resulted in drastically different findings on whether the lines pose any risk to the lake and its visitors.