EPA plans to shutter UNLV lab

Agency to move workers out of town by Sept. 30

Three years ago, Congress gave the Environmental Protection Agency almost $8 million to begin planning for a new laboratory and office complex in Las Vegas.

That money is apparently gone, and soon the EPA will be, too.

The agency’s research branch has confirmed plans to vacate its lab on the UNLV campus and pull out of the valley altogether by Sept. 30.

Local employees of the EPA’S Office of Research and Development have been given the option to relocate to other sites, retire or leave their jobs with the agency.

Environmental advocates were quick to blame the Trump administration for what Elspeth Dimarzio from the Sierra Club in Nevada called a “blatant disregard for both science and the public servants of Las Vegas that have spent their lives protecting Americans from the dangers of pollution and toxic

EPA

Earlier this month, Dwight Solander pleaded guilty to three counts of child abuse with substantial bodily harm. He faces decades behind bars.

Family Services officials have said the Solanders were licensed as foster parents in 2010, and the department later revoked that license. Department officials declined to comment on specifics of the case.

In previous court hearings, the adopted girls detailed the torture they endured at the hands of Janet Solander.

According to testimony, the woman shoved one girl under a faucet of scalding water for so long that she still has scars from the burn on her shoulder. Another girl was threatened with a razor blade and said her lip was cut after she squirmed while being forced to take a cold shower.

The middle child testified that she watched as Janet Solander grabbed the oldest girl’s head and slammed it against a marble countertop, giving her a black eye.

She forced one of the girls to stand inside a trash bag for an entire day, according to testimony.

Bluth told jurors that after they observe what is expected to be two weeks of testimony, “There will be no doubt in your mind what Janet Solander did to these children.”

Contact David Ferrara at dferrara@ reviewjournal.com or 702-380-1039. Follow @randompoker on Twitter.