DENVER (AP) — Anne McGill Gorsuch Burford, who spent two years as Environmental Protection Agency director under President Reagan before resigning in a fight with Congress over toxic waste documents, has died of cancer. She was 62.
Burford died Sunday at Aurora Medical Center, said one of her sons, J.J. Gorsuch.
A former Colorado lawmaker, Burford considered Reagan a hero and was thrilled to win a post in his administration in 1981. In her 1986 book "Are You Tough Enough?" she recalled the outrage from environmentalists as she cut the EPA budget by 22 percent.
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Her plan was to protect the environment more efficiently — with a smaller staff, more responsibility at the state level and what she viewed would be more sensible regulations.