Whistle-blower claims BLM firing over polluted Nevada mine

http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2004/Nov-11-Thu-2004/news/25233754.html

RENO -- The Bureau of Land Management's former project manager for a contaminated mine site in Nevada said Wednesday he was fired because he refused to stop speaking out about dangers posed there by radioactive and other toxic wastes.

In a federal whistle-blower complaint seeking more than $1 million in damages, Earle Dixon of Carson City said BLM state Director Bob Abbey fired him in October in retaliation for his aggressive research and public comment on the health and safety risks to workers and the community near the former Anaconda copper mine on the edge of Yerington.

A copy of the administrative complaint obtained by The Associated Press said Dixon refused to go along with repeated attempts by BLM management and the Nevada Division of Environmental Protection to downplay dangers at the 3,600-acre site and "sweep the issue under a political rug."

More...