Butte was named from the small hills, or buttes, near the town site. The Central
Interstate Low Level Radioactive Waste Compact and US Ecology purchased land 2
miles west of Butte in the early 1990s. The land was to become the site of the
compact's dump; however following extensive controversy, the dump was
eventually removed from consideration. Nebraska was officially removed from the
compact after a series of long court battles that ended in 2004. The state of
Nebraska had to pay a settlement and there have been attempts made to sell the
compact's land just outside Butte.