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EPA updates Butte-Silver Bow commissioners on Superfund work, residential sampling and repository siting
Summary
EPA Region 8 staff briefed the council on multiple operating units at the Silver Bow Creek/Butte area Superfund site, reporting progress on residential sampling, design work for corridor stormwater controls, Berkeley Pit pilot objectives and an imminent repository siting recommendation.
EPA project staff gave a detailed presentation to the Butte-Silver Bow Council of Commissioners on July 16 covering the status of several operable units at the Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund site.
The agency described three operable units that most directly affect the Butte community: Westside Soils (characterization phase), Butte Priority Soils (remedial action and post-construction in many areas) and the Mine Flooding Operable Unit (Berkeley Pit remedial action). “The Mine Flooding Operable Unit's currently in remedial action,” Jason Rappi, the project manager for the mine flooding unit, said. Rappi said the Berkeley Pit pilot project met its objectives and the team expects to complete the pilot’s steady-state assessment this summer and to begin a remedial-action-adequacy review.
Work in Butte Priority Soils continues under two enforcement mechanisms: a 2020 consent decree that governs corridor and large-scale projects and a 2011 unilateral administrative order (amended 2020) that covers residential cleanup. EPA staff said responsible parties are conducting many of the design and construction projects under EPA oversight; examples include the Grove Gulch stormwater sediment capture project (under construction, expected to finish this year) and other corridor stormwater basins such as Diggings East. Emma Rott, who supports Westside and Butte Priority Soils, said Grove Gulch will not be open for public use, though other corridor projects will be developed into public parks with walkways and benches when complete.
On Westside Soils, EPA said a remedial investigation published last fall found lead, arsenic and manganese in soils, groundwater and surface water across approximately 6,000 acres. A feasibility study is in draft and targeted for completion by the end of 2025. The agency is still completing a potentially responsible-party search in that operable unit.
Residential metals abatement remains a priority. Molly Roby and team members reported an expanded sampling effort: they expect to have sampled roughly 470 residential yards by Aug. 1, with more field work continuing into fall. Roby emphasized EPA is reviewing hundreds of public comments on a 2024 proposed plan that lowered the prior lead cleanup level and is coordinating with EPA headquarters (Office of Land and Emergency Management) before issuing an amended Record of Decision. “We are working as fast as we can, but we are definitely waiting for some additional guidance,” Roby said.
Repository siting: EPA staff said a repository siting committee — convened after the 2020 consent decree — narrowed candidate locations and that Atlantic Richfield and Butte-Silver Bow expect to issue a final recommendations report soon; EPA will review and concur as regulator. Staff said roughly 1,100,000 cubic yards of corridor material will require placement in a repository to complete corridor construction.
Community engagement: EPA summarized outreach the team has expanded in 2025, including revamped web materials, monthly emails, school outreach packets for families, coordination with the Butte-Silver Bow health department and planned public interviews as part of the five-year review process. EPA also noted work with the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) and local medical providers on health-provider outreach and the Medical Monitoring Working Group.
What the council asked: Commissioners asked about domestic wells in the Westside area, counts and status of unreclaimed and insufficiently reclaimed sites, headquarters' role in the lead-level decision, and repository timeline. EPA staff answered that residential wells (about 40 sampled in the area) were used for characterization and that unreclaimed/insufficiently reclaimed areas are progressing through remedial design and construction; staff offered to follow up with detailed counts. On lead cleanup numbers, Roby said EPA is coordinating with headquarters and awaiting national guidance before finalizing decisions.
No formal council action was taken on the presentation; EPA staff said they would continue outreach and return with milestone updates, and that the site’s five-year review process will begin to solicit public interviews next year (due summer 2026).
