In addition to struggling with the devastating impact of climate change, Nevada has another major environmental problem — low-income households and communities of color are disproportionately affected by toxic exposure because affordability concerns force them to live close to pollution hotspots including industrial facilities, landfills, truck routes, airports and military bases.

A whopping 92 percent of Nevada residents live in counties that received the lowest possible grade on the Environmental Defense Fund’s air quality index. Ozone pollution is a serious issue in the state, with Las Vegas ranked the ninth most polluted city in the country. The city is also the 25th dirtiest in the U.S. when it comes to particulate matter pollution. Across Nevada, there also are 22,835 open and abandoned mining sites — more than in any other state. People who live near these areas are exposed to numerous hazardous agents, including mercury.

The harmful substances used on some military bases can easily infiltrate the water sources of people who live nearby. One of the most notable bases in Nevada when it comes to environmental contamination is Naval Air Station Fallon (NAS Fallon). Located east of Reno, this military facility's drinking water is heavily contaminated with perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). The most known chemicals from the PFAS group are PFOS and PFOA, which have a strong association with cancer. In the drinking water of NAS Fallon, the highest level of these substances found was 1,670,000 ppt. The safe exposure limit is 70 ppt.

In Reno, a major source of pollution is the Reno-Tahoe International Airport. The highest PFOS and PFOA level in the environment of the airport was found to be at 119,700 ppt. On both military bases and airport land, the source of PFAS has been the use of AFFF, a fire suppressant containing up to 98 percent of such substances. As a result of NAS Fallon's legacy of environmental contamination, at least some of Reno’s drinking water contains one or more of nine toxic chemicals.

Communities living close to these two military pollution hotspots will inevitably be exposed to hazardous agents to a substantially greater degree than the general population. Perhaps the most effective recipe for combating this problem is a combination of grassroots activism, lobbying and collaboration with private law firms, which can help injured people file class action lawsuits that compensate them and hopefully discourage the release of excessive pollution into the environment.

Jonathan Sharp is the chief financial officer at Environmental Litigation Group, P.C., a law firm headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama, that assists communities affected by pollution from military bases.