Butte’s public water comes from three sources: the Big Hole River, Moulton Reservoir and Basin Creek Reservoir. It is treated at the Big Hole Treatment Plant and the Moulton Treatment Plant. Water quality is frequently tested and meets or exceeds all standards for drinking, cooking and bathing.
FAQs
If you think of Superfund as an orchestra, the conductor who oversees performance is the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA supervises a process that includes the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, the Montana Natural Resource Damage Program (NRD), Atlantic Richfield Corporation (ARCO) and its contractors, and various other players across a spectrum of ongoing projects within the seven Operable Units of the Butte/Silver Bow complex.
As of 2025, cost estimates for the entire Superfund monolith which includes Butte/Silver Bow, Anaconda, and the upper Clark Fork River have totaled roughly $3 billion. The Butte/Silver Bow portion of the Superfund bill has come to roughly $400 million.
Mining does continue in Butte, under the auspices of Montana Resources, a Dennis Washington company. Active mining is strictly monitored and takes place in the Continental Pit, adjacent to the Berkeley Pit. The current operation employs roughly 300 people and is mining for copper ore and a medley of other minerals.
Silver Bow Creek was designated as a superfund site in 1983, and the larger Butte area was added in 1987.
The short answer is that it is really complicated and difficult. The overall site is massive, the cleanup is multi-layered, including soils, water, air, groundwater, vegetation, storm water, and more. Challenges are often gargantuan (think the Berkeley Pit, for example). Each facet of each Operable Unit goes through an exhaustive cycle of assessment, design, proposal, comment period, approval and implementation. Taken together, each discreet project can take years to complete.
Because the Superfund project is so massive and complex, the Butte/Silver Bow portion has been broken up into seven, more manageable pieces. They are Westside Soils, Butte Mine Flooding, Streamside Tailings, Rocker Timber Framing and Treating Plant, Butte Priority Soils, and two OUs at Warm Springs Ponds.
The Residential Metals Abatement Program (RMAP) handles free residential testing in Butte and surrounding areas, as well as the work of soil replacement and attic insulation removal and replacement. Contact them for an appointment at (406) 497-5040.
Blood level testing is provided for free through Superfund. Contact the Residential Metals Abatement Program (RMAP) at (406) 497-5040 to schedule an appointment.
No. The Berkeley pit is hydrologically controlled to remain at a safe level and will continue to be contained in perpetuity.