According to the latest data, the American telecom operator AT&T has removed all of the obsolete lead-sheathed cable from Lake Tahoe in the United States. In total, we are talking about almost 13 kilometers of cable that was in the water, Datacenter Dynamics reports.
The California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA) initiated litigation over this cable back in 2021, and in September a settlement was reached with AT&T – the company agreed to clean up the outdated piece of infrastructure from the lake.
According to court documents, AT&T agreed to remove nearly 50,000 kilograms of lead from the lake. It is unknown how long ago these cables were laid. What is known for certain is that American telecom operators have not used lead-protected cables since 1964.
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In general, lead began to be used back in the 1880s to protect copper wires from adverse environmental conditions – lead is quite stable and the lead sheath practically does not deteriorate over time. Old cables were often abandoned where they were used, with fiber optic solutions installed literally next to them.
AT&T agreed to remove the cables in 2021, but then suspended the process so that experts could conduct additional analyses. In addition to anglers, it is known that the League to Save Lake Tahoe has been lobbying for the removal of cables from the lake for many years. This is an environmental organization that protects the lake with an area of 496.2 km2.
Dismantling reportedly took less than three weeks, with AT&T personnel working 12-hour shifts, 7 days a week. Although wind and other weather conditions hampered the project somewhat, dismantling was completed on November 17.
A large barge worked alongside a smaller craft, scuba divers worked hand-in-hand with a specialized submersible, and a crew on deck operated a winch to retrieve cable fragments. The cable was divided into smaller parts directly on the barge.
Environmentalists say while the lake’s plan to clean up lead cables has encountered some obstacles, it’s important that AT&T has fulfilled its commitments to the lake and is now free of the company’s toxic cables.
Last year, a Wall Street Journal investigation found that AT&T, Verizon and other telecom carriers in many U.S. states were contaminating water and soil with lead cables. The investigation collected samples from different parts of the country, including the banks of the Mississippi (Louisiana), Michigan, Oregon and New Jersey.
In total, samples taken from nearly 130 submarine cable sites were found to be toxic, according to tests by several independent laboratories. The operators argued that many of the cables were still in use, including by emergency services, and their operation did not contravene local laws. Subsequently, class action lawsuits were filed against Verizon and AT&T, where the operators were accused of hiding data about the toxic cables they owned. And already in 2024, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) became interested in the problem.