Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

EPA Opens Comment Period On Proposed Anaconda Superfund Changes

Wednesday the EPA released the changes it wants to make to the existing 1998 legal cleanup plan for a 170 square mile portion of the Anaconda Smelter Superfund site. The proposed changes are aimed at better protecting creeks from contaminated runoff and erosion.

EPA’s new plan calls for reclaiming more smelter-impacted drainages, especially in the uplands. If creeks are still not meeting Montana’s water quality standards for metals after the additional cleanup work is completed, those state standards will be waived to federal ones.

EPA is hosting a public meeting on Tuesday, September 17, from 6-8 pm at the Metcalf Senior Center in Anaconda to present their “proposed plan”. The 30 day public comment period ends October 4.

Copyright 2020 Montana Public Radio. To see more, visit Montana Public Radio.

Nora Saks is a freelance radio and print journalist investigating themes of environmental justice in the Crown of the Continent and beyond.