Donner Lake is being called a “Pearl in Peril” in the latest Nevada County Grand Jury report. Foreman Joe D’Andrea says challenges with water quality have been known since 1978 or earlier. And beginning in 2011, the Environmental Protection Agency classified the lake as “impaired”, due to contamination from PCB’s, chlordane, and arsenic…

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D’Andrea says one hillside stands out as the steepest and most lightly vegetated. It’s made up of the most erosive type of rock in the area. It’s ranked in the highest categories of risk for erosion and landslides. The report says the freeway’s infrastructure and other building activity in the Truckee area over the past 150 years have placed a burden on the environment, specifically the watershed surrounding the lake. But D’Andrea says solutions are complicated, especially since they involve diverse agencies and governments…

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But the report says everyone interviewed is willing to cooperate and collaborate to address the challenges.