AT&T to remove lead cabling from Lake Tahoe

AT&T has agreed to remove abandoned telecommunications cables that have caused toxic lead to filter into Lake Tahoe as a part of a settlement it reached in court with the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance (CSPA), which has been pushing the case since 2021. According to court documents, AT&T will remove about 107,000 pounds of lead from Lake Tahoe.

“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,” said Chris Shutes, executive director for CSPA.

 AT&T president, California, Marc Blakeman said: "Multiple expert analyses have confirmed that the telecommunications cables in Lake Tahoe are safe and pose no threat to public health or the environment. While we’re confident in the strength of our case and the safety of the cables, this settlement represents an amicable resolution to litigation. With the litigation behind us, we are fulfilling our original commitment to remove the cables in Lake Tahoe. Now that these studies have been performed and confirmed the safety of the cables, we can return to our commitment to remove the cables.”