Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
We're working to fix a technical issue causing problems with our broadcasts. We'll have it resolved as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.

EPA Officials To Visit Anaconda, Butte This Week

Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Doug Benevento, at right of screen, spoke in Butte in January, 2018
Corin Cates-Carney
/
Montana Public Radio
Environmental Protection Agency Regional Administrator Doug Benevento, at right of screen, spoke in Butte in January, 2018

This week, top staff from the Environmental Protection Agency will be in Butte and Anaconda meeting with local leaders, holding public meetings and touring Superfund sites.

Last year, the EPA added both sites to their so-called national “emphasis list.”

Regional EPA Administrator Doug Benevento was last in Montana at the end of January to announce that after 12 years of negotiations on the cleanup of the Butte Hill and upper Silver Bow Creek, the parties had reached a conceptual agreement.

“This really isn’t the beginning of the end," Benevento said, "maybe we’re a little past the end of the beginning. But we’ve got a lot of things left to do, and we all just need to understand that and not relax.”

Joining Benevento will be Albert Kelly, the head of the Superfund Task Force and senior adviser to EPA Chief Scott Pruitt.

Benevento has set a timeline to be done cleaning up both the Anaconda and Butte Superfund sites and de-list them by the end of 2024.

“We wanted to provide a date," Benevento said. "It’s been quite a number of years that we have been out here. I think setting a date and having a timeline is a mechanism. As I said teammates hold each other accountable, now hold us accountable to this number.”

According to the Montana Standard,EPA leaders will hold a public meeting at the Old Works Golf Course in Anaconda on Tuesday, where they are expected to set a timeline on how to proceed with the cleanup there, despite the lack of a finalized financial agreement. They’ll also be joined by an official from the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry to discuss a new public health study, in response to local leaders’ request.

On Wednesday, the EPA officials will hold a public meeting at the Butte Archives where they will discuss a number of items on the community’s Superfund agenda.

Nora Saks is a reporter and producer based in Butte, MT.
Become a sustaining member for as low as $5/month
Make an annual or one-time donation to support MTPR
Pay an existing pledge or update your payment information
Related Content