Perchloroethylene (PCE) in the river and groundwater
The residents of the Truckee Meadows currently are paying a tax to pay for the clean-up of the PCE contamination in our water supply. PCE is a dry-cleaning chemical that is highly carcinogenic. Currently the project is costing the taxpayers $30 million and it is expected to take thirty years to remove this pollutant.
Three years ago, an environmental lawyer offered Mr. Gammick his services in litigating this PCE contamination against the chemical manufacturers of PCE. He had previously filed a similar suit on behalf of the citizens of Modesto, California. In that lawsuit the court ordered that the PCE remediation was the responsibility of the chemical manufacturers. Besides being ordered to clean the water and rebuild the Modesto Municipal water supply, the chemical companies were ordered to pay an additional $100 million in punitive damages.
Mr. Gammick refused the offer stating that the Truckee River clean-up was already being financed by the taxpayers so it was not an issue he cared to address. And this is the exact reason why the citizens of Washoe County will have to wait 30 years to have this chemical removed from the water. Callous to the needs of the citizens and inconsiderate to the taxpayers, Mr. Gammick chose not to make our community safer.