Butte-Silver Bow commissioners approve amended comments pressing EPA for faster lead cleanup timeline

Butte-Silver Bow, Mont. — The Butte-Silver Bow Council of Commissioners voted 8-2 on Feb. 5 to authorize the chief executive to submit an amended comment letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the agency’s October 2024 proposed plan to amend the remedial action for the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU).

The action follows nearly two hours of public comment and a lengthy council debate. The approved letter, as amended by Commissioner Evan O'Leary and seconded by Commissioner Shay, asks EPA to develop a substantially shorter cleanup schedule — proposing that at least 80% of required remedial activities be completed within 10 years and full completion within 15 years — and to avoid imposing cleanup costs on Butte-Silver Bow taxpayers.

The vote authorizes Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher to transmit the council’s comments to EPA. The motion to concur with communication 2025-18 as amended passed with an 8-2 tally, recorded by the clerk as "8 yea, 2 nay." No roll-call names for the nays were read into the public record during the vote.

Why it matters: The BPSOU proposed plan would expand the area subject to residential soil sampling and remediation and alters cleanup levels and time frames. Residents and longtime site experts told the council they want the work done far sooner than EPA’s proposed timelines, with some calling for single-digit year completion. Several speakers urged the county to insist that polluters — principally BP/ARCO as identified in federal orders covering the site — be made to fund and, if necessary, directly perform remediation rather than relying on county staffing and resources.

Public testimony and technical claims