Site Assessment and Community-Stakeholder Engagement

Conducting hazardous waste site assessments at National Priority List (NPL) and state-funded cleanup sites throughout the state is part of TEPH's strategy to address public health threats from environmental waste.

The MT APPLETREE program prioritizes work at hazardous sites with our ATSDR Technical Project Officer, Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and local agencies.

You can review current and past program activities below.

Current Program Activities

Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site. Long driveway leading to mining headframes.

(Image source: MT DPHHS) 

The Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund site includes the land in and around the town of Butte and is 26 miles from the entire Silver Bow Creek. Mining operations since the late 1800s have resulted in heavy metal contamination in soil, groundwater, surface water, and sediment. The original Silver Bow Creek site was first added to the National Priorities List (NPL) in 1983. An amendment in 1987 included large areas in and around Butte.

The MT APPLETREE program is currently preparing a health consultation on arsenic exposure for this site. Please check back for updates on this.

Below is a summary of the work that ATSDR and Montana DPHHS have done regarding this site:

Image looking down into a city from above

(Image source: U.S. EPA)

Aerial photo of site

(Image Source: Chris Boyer, Kestrel Aerial Services, courtesy of Montana Dept. of Justice Natural Resource Damage Program)

  • For background information, clean-up history, and current status visit EPA's superfund page for Smurfit-Stone Mill Frenchtown.

Past Program Activities: NPL Superfund Sites 

Image of East Helena Site

(Image source: Montana Environmental Trust Group, LLC, Trustee of the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust)

Past Program Activities: Non-NPL Superfund Sites