BUTTE — A Superfund cleanup which was outlined in the consent decree nearly five years ago has finally begun in Butte.
“People are saying, ‘We want to see something happening in our community.’ Well, today’s the day, something’s happening,” said Butte Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher.
Crew were recently laying out an access route to the Grove Gulch site which will involve the removal of 1,300 cubic yards of soil contaminated by over a century of mining activity.
It’s the first project in the consent decree that will include the reclamation of the Silver Bow Creek corridor running through the center of town.
“The cleanup of our community is so vital to the success of our community and we’re looking forward to having this project kicked off and just keep the ball rolling,” said Gallagher.
Once contaminated soil is removed from the site off Lexington Avenue, a sedimentation bay and vegetation swale will be constructed to capture stormwater and prevent contamination from getting into Blacktail Creek.
This part of the project is expected to be completed by next spring.
“It’s an exciting day. The design process of these projects is very complicated and very detailed, it’s long and arduous so it's nice to see some actual project on the ground and some materials being moved,” said the Director of Reclamation and Environmental Services Eric Hassler.
Removed soils will be temporarily stored at the Butte Reduction Works site off South Montana Street. It will likely be dumped in the Berkeley Pit once a final repository site is chosen.
“It’s a smaller project, but it’s a very important project to get kicked off and is definitely part of the bigger picture,” said Hassler.
The remainder of the cleanup is expected to begin next year.
