Tribe condemns Rep. Amodei proposal to transfer mine property

RENO — A Nevada tribe is condemning a congressman’s proposal to give more than 2,000 acres of federal land at a contaminated mine to the corporation responsible for cleaning it up.

Nevada Republican Rep. Mark Amodei told the Reno Gazette Journal officials for BP’s subsidiary Atlantic Richfield asked him to introduce a bill to transfer more than 2,000 acres of Bureau of Land Management into their private hands.

Amodei says the transfer would speed up the cleanup of the former Anaconda copper mine near Yerington and reduce the burden on U.S. taxpayers.

Yerington Paiute Tribe chairman Laurie Thom says Amodei never consulted tribal leaders about the proposal she calls a “shameful” infringement on tribal sovereignty.

She says BP already is responsible for the cleanup under the U.S. Superfund law.