Butte Area One

Butte Area One

NRDP

The 2008 Montana v. ARCO Consent Decree allocated $28.1 million (M), plus interest, to restore, replace or acquire the equivalent of the injured groundwater and surface water of Butte Area One. The Governor created the Butte Natural Resource Damage Restoration Council (BNRC) to give the citizens of Butte a strong voice on how this fund should be spent. This nine-member volunteer council is assisted by the Montana Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP).

In 2020, the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit Consent Decree was entered, which provides $20.5 million for the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to perform the Blacktail Creek cleanup with leftover funds to be transferred for restoration actions and $1 million to Butte-Silver Bow for end land use. DEQ and NRDP agree that the $20.5 million payment from BP-AR is more than the then-estimated cost of the BTC Riparian Actions, and that the $20.5 million settlement amount was intended to provide leftover funds to repay the restoration funds that have paid for the Parrot Tailings Waste Removal Project, as noted in the Trustee’s Modifications to Plan Amendments Based on Public Comment.

Over $140 million in natural resource damage settlement funds have been allocated to projects in Butte Silver Bow County, see the UCFRB page.

 

In March 2012, the Governor approved a restoration process plan for Butte Area One proposed by the BNRC. The BNRC solicited restoration ideas for injured surface and groundwater resources in Butte Area One, pursuant to this process plan. In October 2012, the State produced a draft Butte Area One Restoration Plan developed by the BNRC, with the assistance from NRDP, and subject to public comment. In January 2013, the Governor approved the final Butte Area One Restoration Plan as proposed by the BNRC.

Butte Area One (BAO) Restoration Plan & Amendments:

Approximately $10 million from the 2008 Butte Area One settlement was combined with $20 million from the UCFRB Restoration Fund to fund water system improvement projects in Butte-Silver Bow County, specifically the Basin Creek Water Treatment Plant, which cost a total of $30 million. See UCFRB page for full discussion of groundwater projects in Butte Silver Bow.

From 2001 to 2010, NRDP funded approximately $66 million in early restoration projects in Butte-Silver Bow County through the Grants Program. These funds came from the 1999 Upper Clark Fork River Basin settlement and were allocated as follows:

YearProject NameValue
2001–10Butte Water Lines$17.4 M
2001–10Silver Bow Creek Greenway$23.6 M
2002–05German Gulch Watershed$926,000
2003Basin Creek Dam$503,000
2003–05Duhaime Acquisition$1.67 M
2004High Service Tank$1.19 M
2004–05Big Butte Acquisition$688,000
2007–10Big Hole Transmission Line$8.72 M
2007Thompson Park$988,000
2008Big Hole Dam$3.71 M
2008–10Children’s Fishing Pond$1.23 M
2010Big Hole Pump Station$3.50 M

The Parrot Silver and Copper Company smelter operated along the north bank of Silver Bow Creek from 1881 to 1899. This smelter was located just east of the current day Butte Civic Center. It was one of finest and most efficient milling and smelting facilities in its day. The Parrot Smelter was demolished in 1906 but the slag dumps and tailings pile remained on site. In the late 1950’s, the Anaconda Company placed overburden from the Berkeley Pit on top of the Parrot Smelter site. In about 1978, Butte-Silver Bow built the County Shop Complex atop the site. Two ballfields were built atop the slag pile north of Civic Center Road.

The BNRC, worked with NRDP and the public to produce the Butte Area One Restoration Plan in 2012. This plan emphasized restoring the aquifer and protecting the Blacktail and Upper Silver Bow creeks by removing wastes left in place, including the Parrot Tailings.

In October 2015, Governor Bullock announced his intention for removal of the Parrot Tailings and the contaminated soil beneath them, as essential for the recovery of the alluvial aquifer and for the long-term protection of Silver Bow and Blacktail Creeks. See the BAO Restoration Plan Amendment (2016) – Parrot Tailings Waste Removal. Since then NRDP has worked with numerous entities to facilitate the removal of the Parrot wastes.

Parrot Project Completion Report

In accordance with the Butte Area One (BAO) Restoration Plan Amendment Parrot Tailings Waste Removal (December 27, 2016) (Parrot Amendment) and the September 20, 2019, Butte Area One (BAO) Restoration Plan Amendment to fund the Parrot Tailings Waste Removal, this Project Completion Report summarizes construction activities associated with the primary tasks necessary to address contamination associated with the Parrot Tailings Waste Removal (Parrot Project).

Parrot Tailings Waste Removal Project Report

2024.08.30 Butte CD Paragraph 96 Letter

Performance Monitoring Program

The DRAFT FINAL – Butte Area One Parrot Performance Monitoring Program Conceptual Site Model Report (May 2020) and associated 2023 Addendum fulfilled the following purpose:

  • Provide a summary of ongoing remediation activities completed as part of the Parrot Tailings Waste Removal Project.
  • Provide updated groundwater and hydrogeological data collected from the 3rd quarter 2020 to the 4th quarter 2022.
  • Provide updated trend analysis on major contaminants and conductivity.
  • Provide water quality, metals, and rare earth element concentrations in monitored groundwater; and
  • Note any significant changes to groundwater chemistry, constituent of concern concentrations, and aquifer hydrology that is potentially due to completed Parrot Tailings work.

The Performance Monitoring Program includes the following Data Summary Reports:

  • Parrot 2023 Data Summary Report – Available up request
  • Data Summary Reports from 2019 through 2022 and the 2018 Construction Completion Report for the Ground Water Monitoring Well Installation are available but are too large to upload to the website. These reports can be provided through file transfer upon request.

Parrot Tailings Waste Removal Project Funding Amendments (2019)

Butte Priority Soils OU CD Remedy Coordination

West Side Soils OU Remedy Coordination

Coordination with DEQ’s Blacktail Creek Remedial Action

Other Information