Montana Dam to Be Removed in $100 Million Mine Waste Cleanup

The Clark Fork area of the US is probably the most contaminated minesite anywhere in the country. Over too many years too few efforts have been made to ensure that those responsible for the disaster pay for its remediation. But slowly some progress is being made.

Montana Dam to Be Removed in $100 Million Mine Waste Cleanup

August 2, 2005

Environmental News Service (ENS)

MISSOULA, Montana - The Atlantic Richfield Company and the NorthWestern Corporation today agreed to complete a $100 million cleanup of Montana's Milltown Reservoir. Montana Governor Brian Schweitzer,

Attorney General Mike McGrath, and representatives of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the U.S. Department of Justice made the announcement in a press conference at the Milltown Dam.

The companies consented to remove millions of cubic yards of reservoir sediments contaminated with arsenic as well as decommissioning and removing the Milltown Dam in southwestern Montana about four miles upstream of Missoula.

"This project is historic. I thank everyone who has worked so hard to make this happen," said Governor Schweitzer. "The remedy here will address the contamination in the river and return the Milltown aquifer to drinking water standards, and the state of Montana will restore this area and return these rivers to their natural condition."

"This project will restore world class trout fishing to the Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers," the governor said. Built in 1907, the Milltown Dam blocks the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers where they meet, just east of Missoula. The reservoir contains 6.6 million cubic yards of metal contaminated sediment that has flowed downstream from mining operations in Butte and Anaconda. The Clark Fork River Basin is one of the largest Superfund sites in the nation.

The cleanup will excavate about 2.6 million cubic yards of the most highly contaminated sediments, resulting in safer drinking water for Milltown residents, local economic redevelopment, unrestricted fish passage, and the return of the Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers to their natural, free-flowing state.

Under a draft timeline for the agreement, the Milltown Dam and the contaminated sediments will be removed and the area around the site will be restored by December 2009.

The consent decree filed in U.S. District Court Tuesday is the product of more than three years of negotiations between the EPA, the State of Montana, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, and defendants Atlantic Richfield Co. (Arco) and NorthWestern Energy.

Funding for the $100 million project will be paid primarily by Arco, a subsidiary of British Petroleum, with NorthWestern contributing $11.4 million. The state’s natural resource damage Restoration Fund will contribute $7.6 million to the project.

In addition, as part of the settlement, the state will have the option to acquire approximately 500 acres of land and the water rights at the Milltown site now owned by NorthWestern.

The company has already transferred a seven mile stretch of riverfront along the Alberton Gorge to state ownership. "It’s an incredible accomplishment," said McGrath. "One hundred years after this dam was built, we will have done the work necessary to clean up this area so future generations can safely enjoy it once again."

The agreement follows other settlements with Atlantic Richfield in the Clark Fork Basin under which cleanups will proceed and the state and federal governments’ costs will be reimbursed.

"We are pleased that Atlantic Richfield and the NorthWestern Corporation have agreed to the cleanup and restoration of the Milltown Reservoir area," said Deputy Assistant Attorney General John Cruden for the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division.

"Today’s settlement follows other important settlements in the Clark Fork Basin and will substantially improve the environment and restore valuable natural resources for the people of Montana. This settlement adds to the momentum created by earlier agreements. We hope today’s agreement will keep the parties focused on securing cleanup in the Basin by cooperation rather than litigation and will lead to similar future successes."

The parties plan to continue their negotiations towards further agreements on the cleanup of mining wastes at other locations in the Clark Fork Basin.

Arco has contracted with Envirocon, a company based in Missoula, Montana to do the work under the supervision of the EPA and the state. The first phases of the project could begin as early as this fall.

The Milltown Dam spillway and related structures will be removed so that recontamination does not occur and so that the cleanup of polluted ground water at the site will be completed quickly.

Although not part of the remedy, the Stimson Dam - located approximately one mile upstream on the Blackfoot River - will be removed prior to removal of the Milltown Dam. This is being done through a cooperative effort under the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service National Fish Passage Program.

"Today’s agreement is an important milestone that sets the stage for the long awaited cleanup of this area. I commend all the parties involved on their ability to come to agreement for the greater public and environmental good," said Robbie Roberts, EPA’s Regional Administrator in Denver, Colorado.

As a result of public comments on its first proposed plan, the EPA decided that the disposal location for the sediments will now be at Opportunity Ponds, part of the Anaconda Smelter Superfund Site. Sediments will be removed by mechanical excavation and transported by rail.

The railcar loading area for the sediment has been moved to the river side of I-90, farther away from a residential area. A bypass channel will be constructed on the Clark Fork arm of the Reservoir before the dam is removed to isolate the sediments from the active river and eliminate downstream discharge of contaminated sediments from this portion of the reservoir.

After cleanup and restoration, the rivers will be free-flowing and natural.

"The cleanup that will result from this agreement is a tremendous undertaking and a testimony to the leadership of the State of Montana and Missoula County," said Roberts. "We are removing a dam to give new life to these rivers and the local community."

The settlement also requires that both Atlantic Richfield and NorthWestern provide funds for historic preservation, bull trout mitigation, mitigation for a state owned bridge and highway, reimbursement for past and future federal response, and oversight costs related to the Milltown project.

Following this work, the state of Montana, acting as the lead natural resource damage trustee, will implement a streambank channelization and revegetation effort that will enhance fish habitat and be compatible with redevelopment of the area.

The restoration plan for the site, developed by the state in consultation with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, will exceed what is required under Superfund remedies. "This restoration will enhance the habitat and recreational values in the area of the reservoir and dam, and up and down both rivers," McGrath said.

Redevelopment efforts will be headed by the Milltown Redevelopment Working Group, a local community organization that has crafted a site reuse plan which has been adopted by the Missoula County Commissioners. Its implementation is scheduled to follow remediation and restoration of the sites.

The agreement will be the subject of a 30-day public comment period beginning with publication of the Federal Register notice for the settlement.

During the public comment period, the consent decree may also be examined on the Department of Justice website.

Comments should be sent to: John C. Cruden, Deputy Assistant Attorney General, Environment and Natural Resources Division, U.S. Department of Justice, P.O. Box 7611, Washington, DC 20044-7611.

Refer to U.S. v. Atlantic Richfield Company (D.Mt.), DOJ Case Number 90-11-2-430

For more information on the Milltown Dam, visit: http://www.co.missoula.mt.us/wq/Milltown_Dam/Milltown%20Dam.htm