Organization
About
Citizens Technical Environmental Committee (CTEC)
The Citizens Technical Environmental Committee (CTEC) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed in 1990 under the Superfund law to assist Butte-area communities in understanding complex environmental issues. CTEC hosts monthly public meetings, sometimes at project sites, and actively participates in engineering design reviews and the Medical Monitoring Working Group addressing local health risks. Funded by the EPA, its work is carried out by a consultant and administrator, with board members serving as volunteers.
Our Mission
Butte CTEC empowers members of the community affected by Superfund cleanup to engage effectively in cleanup decisions, by enhancing their understanding of local Superfund issues, and by advocating for solutions that benefit the community through engagement with involved stakeholders.
Our Vision
Butte CTEC envisions its role in the affected community as being supportive, responsive, and broadly helpful to groups and individuals in their dealings with Superfund issues, in which that role helps residents to understand those issues sufficiently to navigate and meaningfully address the region’s Superfund environmental challenges.
Our Board
Dave Williams
Dave Williams was employed as a geologist with the Bureau of Land Management for over 40 years. Most of his career was spent in Butte, Montana and following his retirement in 2019 he has remained active on a variety of related projects.
Dave has been actively involved with acid rock drainage issues through the Acid Drainage Technology Initiative and the Global Alliance for over 30 years.
Dave has been actively involved with the Butte Superfund Complex for several years.
Being a mountaineer and a Nordic skier Dave has been active for several years on Climate Change issues having written, presented and co-chaired conference sessions on Climate Change.
Dave Williams
President
Joe Griffin
Geologist Joe Griffin spent the last 30 years of his professional career evaluating the upper Clark Fork Superfund complex, including the Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Site, as a technical consultant to Atlantic Richfield and later as a project manager for Montana DEQ. Now retired, he busies himself as a board member and technical consultant to Citizens Technical Environmental Committee, as an affiliated faculty member of Dr. Robert Pal’s restoration ecology program at Montana Technological University, and as a Superfund gadfly.
Joe Griffin
Board Title
Beverly K. Hartline
Beverly Karplus Hartline is Professor Emerita of Geophysics at Montana Technological University, where she retired in 2021 as Vice Chancellor for Research and Dean of the Graduate School. Since moving to Butte in 2012, she has become active in issues related to remediation and restoration of Butte Area One, the Silver Bow Creek corridor, and West Side Soils. She asks a lot of questions and wants a quality cleanup that won’t haunt Butte into the future.
Her career has included scientific, policy, and leadership positions at four Department of Energy National Labs, service to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, academic and research administrative roles at four universities, and outreach to excite students, teachers, parents, and the public about science. She and her husband, Fred, particularly enjoy the four seasons of unparalled outdoor opportunities in southwest Montana.
Beverly K. Hartline
Board Member
Verne Brown P.G.
Verne Brown P.G., is a former Army Officer and hydrogeologist. He holds a Masters in Geosciences – Hydrogeology degree with a Mining and Mineral Waste Emphasis from Montana Tech. Verne’s 25 years of mostly environmental and mining work was spent in California in both the private and federal service. He retired in 2020 as the senior hydrogeologist in the Sacramento District, US Army Corps of Engineers.
Verne has been involved in numerous abandoned mine related acid rock drainage sites involving going through the RI/FS process to remedial designs. As a project manager, Verne assisted UPRR’s efforts working with the EPA to successfully delist one of the first Superfund sites in California.
Since retiring, Verne has gotten involved in serving the community through 1590 Search And Rescue and the local Ham radio club and now CTEC.
Verne and his wife have been actively rediscovering Montana, both being native Montanans, camping and going to hot springs throughout the state.
Verne Brown P.G.
Board Member