EPA Watchdog Seeks Feedback On Anaconda Superfund Cleanup

Montana Public Radio | By Nora Saks

Published July 8, 2019 at 4:33 PM MDT

EPA Region 8 Administrator Greg Sopkin chats with Butte residents Evan Barrett and Mick Ringsak after a community stakeholder meeting at the Butte-Silver Bow Archives on Tuesday, June 11, 2019.

The national office that investigates the EPA wants to hear what people in Anaconda think about the Superfund cleanup there.

The independent Office of the Inspector General (OIG) looks for fraud, waste and abuse in the Environmental Protection Agency. It also evaluates EPA’s programs, like Superfund, and makes recommendations on how they could be improved.

As part of the OIG’s current nationwide audit, they’ve chosen four Superfund sites to review. Anaconda is one. Jill Trynosky, with the OIG, explained why.

"[It's] a large-sized site, it’s been on the Superfund National Priorities List since 1983 and EPA also has recent activity going on at this site. They’ve been doing sampling, they’ve been doing testing, they’ve been doing remediation work. And so we’re looking at how well are they communicating with residents on any risks that there may be to their health."

July 10, OIG staff are holding a listening session in Anaconda. Trynosky said they want to hear the full spectrum of feedback — from constructive to critical.

"There are things that we can learn from residents that we may not be able to learn by speaking to the EPA managers and the EPA technical staff," she explained.

The listening session is on Wednesday from 6 - 8 p.m. at the Fred Moodry Intermediate School auditorium in Anaconda. The OIG is taking oral statements at the meeting, and is also accepting written feedback.