The state of Alaska sued the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management on Friday to force it to take responsibility for toxic contamination on land it conveyed to Alaska Natives starting in 1971.
The lawsuit was filed in the US District Court for the District of Alaska in Anchorage.
Alaska Natives agreed to relinquish aboriginal land rights in exchange for 44 million acres of federal land under the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act, but the land they received was laced with toxic pollution, according to the suit.
Toxic substances—including arsenic, asbestos, lead, mercury, pesticides, polychlorinated biphenyls and other waste—existed on …


















