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Butte-Silver Bow holds county comment on EPA BPSOU plan as residents, commissioners push for faster cleanup
Summary
At a Jan. 15 Committee of the Whole meeting, residents and several commissioners urged Butte-Silver Bow to press the EPA for a much faster cleanup than the agencyproposed; the council held communication 25-18 in abeyance to allow more public input and edits to the countycomment letter before sending it to EPA.
Don Patrice, representing Butte Watchdogs for Social and Environmental Justice, told the Butte-Silver Bow Council of CommissionersCommittee of the Whole on Jan. 15 that the countycomment draft on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency(EPA) proposed remedial plan for the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) did not foreground human health and should be rewritten to demand much faster cleanup.
"The EPA's proposal to take up to 25 years to complete the testing and cleanup is totally unacceptable," Patrice said, arguing that local government comments should prioritize health over economic concerns or staffing interests.
Why it matters: The EPAproposed plan (October 2024) would change the remedial approach for soils in the BPSOU. The countycomment letter is the local governmentposition the EPA will consider during its public comment period; residents and some commissioners said the letter should press EPA to require the responsible parties to complete testing and remediation far sooner than the timeline the draft appeared to allow.
Several public commenters echoed Patrice. Bill Foley, a Butte resident, told…
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