RENO, Nev. (AP) — Federal environmental regulators have certified the stabilization of contaminated waste tailings at a decades-old mercury mine in north-central Nevada near the Oregon line.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced Thursday Barrick Gold U.S. Inc. has secured an 11-acre pile of mercury at the former Cordero mine near McDermitt.
The mine operated from the 1930s until 1970.
Tests conducted in 2010 showed elevated levels of arsenic and mercury in the waste tailings.
Barrick agreed to regrade and cover the waste pile to reduce risks to the surrounding environment in a settlement agreement with the EPA and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in 2017.
EPA Regional Administrator Mike Stoker in San Francisco praised Barrick Thursday for working cooperatively with state and federal regulators to "ensure a timely and comprehensive solution".