Butte Priority Soils Operable unit

References

1) Fact sheet on EPA website, “A Quick Look at Superfund in Butte, MT” page 1, paragraph 4.

2) EPA Fact Sheet, Surface Water Technical Impracticability Evaluation, May 2018. “Although the implemented remedial actions have significantly reduced the amount of contaminants that reach Silver Bow Creek, water quality still exceeds certain state standards for short term (acute) exposure to aquatic life during wet weather (which includes rain storms and snow melt), and exceeds certain state standards for longer term (chronic) exposure to aquatic life during normal flow.”

3) Fact sheet on EPA website, “A Quick Look at Superfund in Butte, MT” page 1, paragraph 4.

5) Summary 2018 fact sheet “Moving Forward“, on EPA website.

6) The 1878 Bland-Allison Act (20 Stat. 289), required the Treasury Department to purchase “not less than two million dollars’ worth [of silver bullion] per month,” and the 1890 Sherman Silver Purchase Act (26 Stat. 289) increased this federal purchasing program, requiring the Treasury Department to buy “four million five hundred thousand ounces” of silver “in each month.” The United States itself profited directly from this silver business, with “seigniorage” from silver being one of the largest revenue generators for the entire federal government during these years, when the Treasury Department created a special deposit account called “the Silver Profit Fund.” See, e.g., Annual Report of the Secretary of the Treasury on the State of the Finances (1882), Appendix (Report on the Silver Profit Fund), pp. 53-56.

7) For an explanation of the practice of the United States, under the General Mining Law of 1872, of allowing and encouraging mining and mineral processing to take place on “unpatented” lands owned by the United States, see, e.g., Chevron Mining Inc. v. United States, No. 15-2209, Slip Op. at pp. 13-26 (10th Cir., July 19, 2017).

8) Background facts from Mining History Assoc.,”The Mining History of Butte and Anaconda“.

9) The Battle for Butte” by Michael P. Malone, 1981. Pages 8-9; State of Montana, Bureau of Mines and Geology, “History of the Early Reduction Plants of Butte, Montana” by Ralph I. Smith, 1953. Pages 1-2, 5.

10) The Battle for Butte” by Michael P. Malone, 1981. Pages 44-53. “Copper for America” by Charles K. Hyde, 1998. Pages 81-89, 104, 177. “Meet Joe Copper: Masculinity & Race on Montana’s World War II Homefront” by Matthew L. Basso, 2013. Page 19.

11) “History of the Early Reduction Plants of Butte, Montana” by Ralph I. Smith, 1953. Pages 14-16; Montana School of Mines, Annual Catalogues, 1909-1916, Hathi Trust Collection.

12) “History of the Early Reduction Plants of Butte, Montana” by Ralph I. Smith, 1953. Pages 7-8, 13.

13)Anaconda” by Isaac F. Marcosson, 1957. Pages 5 and 48. “Copper for America” by Charles K. Hyde, 1998. Pages 88-89, 104, 177.

14)Manganese Oxide Deposits Near Butte and Development Since 1942” by Emmett M. Gilmore (1948). Pages 21-22, Montana Tech Library, Digital Commons @ Montana Tech.

15) U.S. EPA “Action Memorandum Amendment” (March 12, 1992), regarding “manganese ore and tailings…leftover from efforts by the Department of Defense (DOD) during World War II to process manganese at the Butte Reduction Works plant.” pp., 1. 3; Letter from Kurt Groepler, U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, to Ron Betram, U.S. EPA, Region 8, Montana Office (Dec.2, 1992) regarding “Manganese Ore Relocation and Stockpiling.”

16) Kipp v. Davis Daly Copper Co., 41 Mont. 509,518-519 (1910);—The American and English Annotated Cases, vol. XXI, p. 1375 (1911).

17) “WPA Project Application” and “Recommendation for Allotment” (November 1935), regarding “[e]xcavation and riprapping of Silver Bow Creek.”

18) “Copper for America” by Charles K. Hyde, pp. 104, 177; “Meet Joe Copper: Masculinity & Race on Montana’s World War II Homefront” by Matthew L. Basso, 2013. Page 19.

19) See Executive Order 7037; and 49 Stat. 1363, An Act to provide for rural electrification and other purposes.

20) For example, although amended by later enactments, the General Mining Law of 1872 – 30 U.S.C. § 21a, et seq. – remains law today, and current Montana law continues to grant eminent domain and right-of-way powers to the mining industry. § 70-30-102 (31), (33), (44), MCA; § 82-2-201, MCA.

21) See, e.g., “Meet Joe Copper: Masculinity & Race in Montana’s World War II Home Front,” Page 5 (2013), by Michael Basso.

22) See, e.g., “The War Industries Board: Business-Government Relations During World War I,” pp. 1, 49, 59 (1973) by Robert Cuff; “Meet Joe Copper: Masculinity & Race in Montana’s World War II Home Front,” pp. 111 (2013), by Michael Basso.

23) “Copper for America” by Charles K. Hyde, pp. 104; “Meet Joe Copper: Masculinity & Race in Montana’s World War II Home Front,” pp. 20-21 (2013), by Michael Basso; “All Nations: Exhibit Honors Butte’s Ethnic Groups“; “Butte Archives: Time to Highlight German, Jewish, Finnish, Hispanic“; “All Nations: Preserving the Ethnic Heritage of Butte, Montana“; “Butte, Montana is the Most Irish-American City According to 2010 US Census

24) Butte, A World Class Ore Deposit,” Steve J. Czehura, Montana Resources, LLP, Butte, MT; March, 2006; pages 5 and 6.

26) Add end note, page 5: Montana Resources Annual Engineer of Record Report, 2016, Executive Summary. Page 5. “Montana Resources Inc. (MRI) was formed to successfully resume mining in the Continental East pit. The company now employs about 350 people and produces 50,000 tons of copper-molybdenum ore per day.”

27) U.S. EPA Fourth Five-Year Review Report for Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site, 2016, Page vi, “Historical mining activities in Butte, Montana, and the surrounding areas generated a variety of wastes. Mining waste disposal practices and mining activities contaminated soil, sediment, groundwater and surface water with arsenic and other heavy metals, leaving the natural landscape of the area void of vegetation and wildlife.”

28) American Heritage, “Butte, America,” by Dan Baum, April 1997, page 6, paragraph 32,”The six square miles of uptown Butte…is also the second-biggest National Historic Landmark District, after downtown Lowell, Massachusetts.”

29) U.S. EPA Fourth Five-Year Review Report for Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site, Page vii, “The remedy at BPSOU (OU 8) is expected to be protective of human health and the environment upon completion. In the interim, exposure pathways that could result in unacceptable risks are being controlled.” EPA fact sheet, A Quick Look at Superfund in Montana, 2019. page 1, paragraph 4.

30) EPA Fact Sheet, Surface Water Technical Impracticability Evaluation, May 2018, paragraph 5, “Although the implemented remedial actions have significantly reduced the amount of contaminants that reach Silver Bow Creek, water quality still exceeds certain state standards for short term (acute) exposure to aquatic life during wet weather (which includes rain storms and snow melt), and exceeds certain state standards for longer term (chronic) exposure to aquatic life during normal flow.”

31) U.S. EPA Fourth Five-Year Review Report for Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Superfund Site, 2016, Page vii, “The remedy at BPSOU (OU 8) is expected to be protective of human health and the environment upon completion. In the interim, exposure pathways that could result in unacceptable risks are being controlled.”

34) Part of the Lower Area One Expedited Response Action (ERA). The 2006 ROD reports this work was completed in 1998.

35) Attic data found in Butte Silver Bow County 2018 Construction Completion Report.

37) Annual Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Report, Butte Treatment Lagoon System, Atlantic Richfield Company, 2019.
Annual Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Report – Appendix A and C
Annual Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Report – Appendix BR

38) BPSOU Groundwater Remedy—Capture and Treatment of Metals-Impacted Groundwater in Butte” (2017), by Loren Burmeister and Mike Borduin, Guest Lectures.

41) See above, History Section, and notes 9–11

43) Mining History Assoc. “The Mining History of Butte and Anaconda“.

45) Proposed plan for Record of Decision Amendment, Anaconda Water, Waste, and Soils Operable Unit, Anaconda Smelter Superfund Site.

50) Fact sheet on EPA website, “A Quick Look at Superfund in Butte, MT,” 2019. page 2.

53) 2006 BPSOU ROD, p.2-14.

54) Fact sheet on EPA website, “A Quick Look at Superfund in Butte, MT,” page 2.

63) Clark Tailings Consolidated Waste Management Area Construction Completion Report, Volume I, Volume II and Volume III, Ecology and Environment, MSE-HKM, AECI, 1998; Copper Mountain Sports and Recreation Complex Operations and Maintenance Manual, AERL and BSB, Dec 2001.

66) Proposed Plan to Amend the 2006/2011 Record of Decision, Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit, Exhibit 1, page 2.

67) Fact sheet on EPA website, “A Quick Look at Superfund in Butte, MT,” page 2.

69) Proposed Plan to Amend the 2006/2011 Record of Decision, Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit, Exhibit 1, page 2.

70) 2006 BPSOU ROD, p. 2–16.

71) Fact sheet on EPA website, “A Quick Look at Superfund in Butte, MT,” 2019, page 2.

77) Fact sheet on EPA website, “A Quick Look at Superfund in Butte, MT,” 2019.

78) Proposed Plan to Amend the 2006/2011 Record of Decision, Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit, page 4.

79) Butte Treatment Lagoons (BTL) and West Camp Pump Station (WCP-1) Upgrades Design Report/Work Plan, Volumes I–III ( Volume I, Volume II, Volume 3 – Part 1, Volume 3 – Part 2 ), Atlantic Richfield, May 2011.

82) Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) Final Wetland Demonstration Area Construction Completion Report (CCR), Pioneer, Nov 2015.

84) Fact sheet on EPA website, “A Quick Look at Superfund in Butte, MT,” page 2.

85) Proposed Plan to Amend the 2006/2011 Record of Decision, Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit, page 15, map on page 18.

86) EPA fact sheets, Silver Bow Creek Butte Area , EPA.

87) Proposed Plan to Amend the 2006/2011 Record of Decision, Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit.

89) See above, History Section, and note 17.

90) From BSB fact sheet, 2012, “2012 Environmental Health Studies“.

93) Proposed Plan to Amend the 2006/2011 Record of Decision, Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit, page 15.

94) U.S. Geological Survey website, USGS Dictionary of Water Terms.

95) U.S. Geological Survey website, USGS Dictionary of Water Terms.

96) EPA website, Superfund: CERCLA Overview.

99) EPA website, Superfund Unilateral Orders.

100) From pitwatch.org, About Pitwatch.

101) Citizens Technical Environment Committee (CTEC) website, About CTEC.