BUTTE, Mont. – As Butte expands its efforts to clean up contaminated soil and dust from years of heavy metal mining, some residents are calling for a quicker timeline.
New regulations have lowered the lead levels required for Superfund cleanup, making more of Butte eligible for assistance. However, the estimated timeline for testing and remediation could take as long as 25 to 40 years.
This has prompted an environmental watchdog group to urge the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Atlantic Richfield, the company responsible for the cleanup, for a faster and more focused effort.
“[The proposed timeline] is not acceptable to the people of Butte,” said Evan Barrett of the Butte Watchdogs for Social & Environmental Justice. “The rest of this nation gets cleaned up awfully fast when it comes to things like lead in the ground or lead in the houses, and we don’t want to be treated like second-class citizens here in Butte.”
“We want it done right, and we want it done quickly,” Barrett added.
The watchdogs hope for the cleanup to be completed in 10 years or less. Over 3,600 acres are eligible to be added to the Superfund area, with the lead requirement being lowered from 1,200 parts-per-million to just 175.
“Both of those things were good news—getting the whole city mostly covered by [the Superfund area], and having the [lead] levels be lower,” Barrett said. “But, nonetheless, it’s important because lead is a poison. It’s bad for adults, it’s bad for kids, it’s bad for everybody. And we don’t want our kids and grandkids to have to live with this stuff forever.”
Per the EPA, even low levels of lead exposure across a lifespan can potentially cause detrimental cognitive effects and hypertension. Per the 2024 update on lead level regulations, vulnerable groups, such as young children and pregnant or nursing mothers, are prioritized in cleanup protocols.
As for the situation in Butte, the EPA has stated that it will continue to consider input from the watchdogs and community. Feedback on public comments will be available once its proposed plan is finalized early next year.
In the meantime, public comment for the cleanup plan is available through Feb. 14, 2025. Suggestions can be emailed to the EPA until then at EPAButtePPcomments@epa.gov.
More information about the Butte Watchdogs for Social & Environmental Justice can be found on their website and Facebook page.
