United States Montana Office
Environments Protection Agency 10 W.^St. Ju|je Da|sog|io Ac(ing
Helena, MT 59626
Press Release
September 24, 2009 Contact Diana Hammer, US EPA (406) 439-3323
For Immediate Release Keith Large, MT DEQ, (406) 431-2253
Doug Martin, MT NRDP, (406) 465-1131
Last Trainload of Sediments Leaves the Milltown Reservoir Sediments
Superfund Site Today
Milltown -
Today marks another historic milestone for the cleanup and
restoration of the Milltown Reservoir Sediments Superfund Site as the last trainload
of contaminated sediments leaves the Site - over three million tons and nearly two
years later. The last trainload of contaminated sediments represents another
important step towards the project goals of cleaning up the local drinking water
supply, restoring the native and sport fishery, and restoring the Clark Fork and
Blackfoot Rivers.
Witnessing the event, EPA Acting Region 8 Administrator Carol Rushin
noted, "Today is an important day in the long story of the Milltown Project. Moving
millions of tons of contaminated sediment can only be done with a superb team and
that is what we have on the Milltown project. It's a story of collaboration and
cooperation, of restoring rivers, a fishery and the local drinking water supply."
"This is an exciting milestone for the citizens of Montana and the Tribes
because it marks the removal of century-old contamination from the rivers," says
Richard Opper, MT DEQ Director. "The DEQ commends EPA and all of the
agencies and communities that have worked together to restore economic and
recreational opportunities to a formerly contaminated area. This is a great example
of the Restoration Economy at work in Montana."
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Milltown Last Trainload page 2-2-2
Looking back over the past two years much has been accomplished
and literally, millions of tons of contaminated sediments have been removed.
October 2, 2007 was the day the first trainload of contaminated
sediments was loaded and sent approximately 90 miles by rail to the Anaconda
Smelter Superfund Site for reclamation use. Nearly every day since then, work
crews have loaded 45 rail cars, each carrying about 100 tons of sediment. Work
progressed as excavators methodically removed the sediments from a series of
excavation cells.
By May 2009, sediment had been excavated from all the cells and the
only remaining contamination to be removed lay under the rail spur on-site.
Therefore, for the last several months, workers have been removing sections of the
rail line to allow excavation of those sediments. This meant the train had to be
shortened and fewer rail cars could be loaded at a time. The schedule continued
with forty-five loaded train cars leaving the Site each day.
To date, approximately 3200 feet of rail has been removed and now
only four rail cars can be loaded at once. Today, the last trainload will leave the
Site.
Today's milestone brings the Milltown project one step closer to
completion; however, much work remains before the work is finished.
A recent agreement between the State of Montana and Atlantic
Richfield Company (and its representatives) calls for removal of an additional
230,000 cubic yards of sediments. These sediments are located in a section of the
former Clark Fork River channel and are known as the Sediment Accumulation
Area 1Mb (SAA-lllb) sediments. These sediments will not be hauled off-site but will
be disposed of in the Tunnel Pond repository located on the south side of the
Milltown Superfund Site. This removal should be complete by December 2009.
In addition, the State of Montana is actively implementing its
Restoration Plan, including construction of new Clark Fork River channel and side
channels, floodplain, and wetlands areas. The Milltown Redevelopment Working
Group is collaborating with MT Fish, Wildlife and Parks, and Missoula County with
the goal of eventually turning this Superfund Site into a Montana State Park.
For more information, please visit EPA's Milltown web page:
http://www.epa.gov/region8/superfund/sites/mt/milltown
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