After years of advocacy from organizations dedicated to preserving Lake Tahoe, AT&T removed eight miles of lead cable from the lake.
Eight miles of lead cable have been removed from Lake Tahoe, following years of advocacy by organizations dedicated to its preservation.
Over the course of about three weeks this month, AT&T removed more than 75 tons of defunct, lead-sheathed telecommunication cable from Lake Tahoe, which was installed nearly a century ago.
"This is a major milestone for Lake Tahoe," League to Save Lake Tahoe Chief Strategy Officer Jesse Patterson said in a news release. "We are grateful that AT&T did the right thing for the Lake Tahoe environment and honored that the league could play an instrumental role to keep Tahoe blue for all."
The removal of the cable was a collaboration between AT&T, who lead the project, the League to Save Lake Tahoe, an organization that protects and restores the health, sustainability and beauty of the lake and Below the Blue, a nonprofit that aims to remove foreign debris from bodies of water.
The project began on Nov. 1 and concluded on Nov. 17, League to Save Lake Tahoe Natural Resource Director Laura Patten said.
An AT&T spokesperson confirmed with USA TODAY Tuesday that the telecommunication cables have been removed from the lake.
How were the Lake Tahoe cables removed?
J.F. Brennan Company, a marine construction firm based in Wisconsin, removed the lead cables, Patten said. The firm used barges to winch, or haul, the cables from the lake. The cables were then cut into smaller segments for transportation outside of the lake basin. Scuba divers also worked on the removal in tandem with an underwater remote-controlled vehicle.
Patten said more than a dozen individuals actively worked on the project, working 12 hours, seven days a week with only a few pauses because of weather.
The League to Save Lake Tahoe remained on-site throughout the entire project to ensure the cables were removed without harming the lake's integrity, Patten said.
Where are the cables now?
Following their removal, the cables were transported to the Fortune Metal Group for recycling, according to the League of Save Lake Tahoe.
A project in the works for years
The League to Save Lake Tahoe, which was established in 1957, became aware of the lead cables in 2020 from Below the Blue, Patten said. For the next four years, the organizations worked together to see to the removal of the cables. However, there were some "bumps in the road," Patten said.
In 2021, AT&T agreed to remove the cables in a lawsuit settlement. In January of that year, the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance filed a lawsuit, alleging that the cables contaminated the lake and posed a widespread risk of exposure, according to the League of Save Lake Tahoe.
Whether the cables damaged the lake is yet to be determined. Patten said numerous studies have been completed to test the water for lead contamination, but the League to Save Lake Tahoe hasn't received the findings of these studies in their entirety.
"In an abundance of caution and without real access to the full range of all the scientific studies, our priority was to remove the cables as quickly and as safely as possible, always with that environmental protection at the forefront," Patten told USA TODAY.
When were lead cables installed in Lake Tahoe?
The lead cables were installed in 1929 to provide telecommunication service by Pacific Power, Patten said. The cables were located in the lake's southwest corner, near Emerald and Rubicon Bays.
More work to be done
Though the feat of removing the underwater cables is complete, Patten said there are still telecommunication cables on land. She said the cables are expected to be removed this upcoming spring.