The Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP) was created in 1990 to prepare the state’s lawsuit against the Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) for injuries to the natural resources in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin (UCFRB).

In 1983, the State of Montana filed a lawsuit against the Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) for injuries to the natural resources in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin. The lawsuit, brought under federal and state Superfund laws, sought damages from ARCO, contending that decades of mining and smelting in the Butte and Anaconda areas had greatly harmed natural resources in the basin and deprived Montanans of their use...

In December 2011, Governor Schweitzer approved a Final Upper Clark Fork River Basin Long Range Priorities and Fund Allocation Guidance Plan that allocated about $110 million in natural resource damage settlement funds for the restoration of groundwater, aquatic, and terrestrial resources in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin (UCFRB).

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 cleanup of the Silver Bow Creek Superfund site near Butte is one of the largest stream and floodplain remediation and restoration projects undertaken in the United States...

From the 1880s to 1980, large volumes of hazardous substances were released into the air by the Anaconda Smelter. These emissions were deposited onto the land, resulting in severe loss of vegetation...

Under the terms of the settlement (involving among others, EPA and the State of Montana) was approved in December 2009 by the Court in the ASARCO bankruptcy case, as part of the plan of reorganization, ASARCO paid the following amounts...

In April 2008, state and federal officials announced a $37 million settlement of litigation with Atlantic Richfield Co. and ASARCO LLC to remove the aging Mike Horse Dam and the contaminated tailings behind it, and to clean up and restore the Upper Blackfoot River and Mining Complex...