The Tundra Drums is reporting today that two Alaska mines that closed decades ago could be listed on the federal Superfund program's National Priorities List for toxic cleanups.

The newspaper reports that the two mines under Superfund evaluation right now are the Red Devil mercury mine near the Kuskokwim River and the Salt Chuck gold, silver and copper mine near Kasaan, in Southeast Alaska. Both mines closed more than 30 years ago, but it appears that the Salt Chuck mineral deposit is still attracting interest from the mining industry.

The Tundra Drums says the Red Devil and Salt Chuck mines would be the first Alaska mines to receive Superfund's NPL designation. State cleanup officials support the listing of the two sites, but the Palin administration hasn't yet weighed in, according to the newspaper.

The story quotes Anne Marie Palmieri, a project manager with the state’s contaminated sites program, who says "A listing would speed up long-needed cleanups and provide millions of dollars to do a thorough job."

Checking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's regional Superfund page this morning, I saw that about six military installations in Alaska are currently on the EPA's National Priorities List; two non-military sites have been deleted from the list.

The Superfund web site does not list any information about the Red Devil or Salt Chuck mines.

At least a few other historic mines, such as the Perseverance Mine near Juneau, have been considered for Superfund cleanups in the past, but the state ended up in charge of the cleanups.