|
Butte, Montana
|
March 3, 2025
|
|
|
West Side Soils Remedial Investigation
In Fall 2024, the Remedial Investigation for West Side Soils, an operable unit (OU) comprising areas north and west of the city of Butte, was completed. An open house took place in November 2024. The posters and materials that were shared at the open house are available for review in the West Side Soils records collection on EPA’s Butte Superfund website. (Note: if the files appear compressed on your screen, try downloading the slides and re-opening the file.)
The next step in the Superfund process for the West Side Soils OU is to conduct a Feasibility Study, which will determine cleanup alternatives for the site. These alternatives will be recorded in a document called a Proposed Plan, and the public will have an opportunity to provide comments.
|
|
Free Blood-Lead Testing and Residential Lead Sampling
Did you know? Butte-Silver Bow (BSB) offers free blood-lead sampling for County residents. Call BSB’s Environmental Health Nurse, Kayla Harvey, BSN, RN, at 406-497-5003.
If you’d like your home or yard sampled for lead, arsenic, and mercury, or would like to check and see if your property has been previously investigated, please contact BSB’s Residential Metals Abatement Program (RMAP) at 406-497-5040.
|
Five-Year Review
Every five years, EPA evaluates the implementation and performance of cleanups to determine if they are, and will, remain protective of human health and the environment. The last five-year review (FYR) for the Butte Superfund Site was issued in 2021, which means EPA will start conducting a FYR in 2025 to have the report ready by 2026. The 2026 FYR will address six of the seven active Site OUs—since the West Side Soils OU does not yet have an established remedy, or cleanup, no five-year review is necessary. 2021’s FYR is available for review on epa.gov/butte.
|
|
BPSOU Corridor Projects
The Grove Gulch cleanup project kicked off in August 2024 and is projected to be completed in early summer. Crews are building stormwater capture systems and sedimentation bays to prevent contaminated stormwater runoff from reaching surface waters, such as Blacktail Creek and Silver Bow Creek. The Grove Gulch area spans one acre just east of Lexington Avenue.
Progress Meeting Update
On March 18, 2025, from 9:00 am to 11:00 am, Atlantic Richfield, EPA, Butte-Silver Bow County, Montana DEQ, and the Montana Natural Resource Damage Program invite the public to observe the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) Remedial Design/Remedial Action Progress Meeting (RDRA Progress Meeting) in a Zoom event by computer or smart phone. Because you will be watching a working meeting, there will be no method for asking questions or making statements.
|
Public Comment Period Complete
The public comment period for the Proposed Plan to lower the lead cleanup level in Butte and expand the boundary of the BPSOU began on October 16, 2024, and ended on Friday, February 14, 2025. EPA is grateful for the robust participation of the community. Comments will be responded to in a responsiveness summary, which will be completed over the next several months.
|
|
Lead (Pb) Safety Resource
Information about reducing lead exposure and how to get a free blood-lead test in Butte-Silver Bow County has been compiled into a resource for the Butte community. The document is available in the fact sheets/newsletters documents collection on epa.gov/butte (or via the "lead safety" button below) and can be downloaded, saved, and printed on personal computers.
|
|
|
|
