Nevada Backs Priority Superfund Status For Toxic Mine

(AP) - The state of Nevada is dropping 15 years of opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency's push to add a toxic, World War II-era copper mine to the priority list of the most polluted Superfund sites in the nation.

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval said Tuesday in a letter to the EPA obtained by The Associated Press that he's cautiously concurring with the proposal that would make available $31 million in federal funds to help clean up the abandoned Anaconda mine 80 miles southeast of Reno.

Sandoval told EPA last year he wasn't ready to support the national priority listing because of continued resistance from some local residents concerned about the stigma of Superfund status. But he says he's now convinced it's the best alternative based in part on EPA's assurances federal funding will be put on a fast track.