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Settlement: Old toxic cables to be removed from Lake Tahoe

Abandoned Phone Cables-Tahoe
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RENO, Nev. (AP) — AT&T's Pac Bell subsidiary has settled a lawsuit at Lake Tahoe over 8 miles of toxic telephone cables that were abandoned on the bottom of the lake decades ago.

A consent decree approved by a federal judge in Sacramento settles the suit the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance filed in January under a U.S. law typically cited in Superfund cases. It also alleged violations of California water quality standards.

Pac Bell has agreed to spend up to $1.5 million to remove the cables. The suit said they've been leaking lead into the alpine lake on the California-Nevada line since they were abandoned in the 1980s.