BUTTE - A major part of Butte’s Superfund cleanup has begun. The site, known as Diggings East, along the Silver Bow Creek corridor, was once a toxic waste dump. In fact, Butte’s chief executive said this was his playground as a kid, and he got into some trouble here.
WATCH: Cleanup begins at Butte superfund site that was once a toxic waste dump along Silver Bow Creek
“When I was six years old, I started a fire down here as a young kid and ended up getting myself into a little bit of trouble and spent time at the fire station helping them clean the fire station,” Butte Chief Executive J.P. Gallagher said.
Now, the chief executive is helping clean up the 30-acre site, which is the largest corridor project in the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit. It's been six years since the consent decree was signed with the Atlantic/Richfield Company to remove contaminated soil from the site.
“This day, moving the dirt out of here, getting the project moving is just significant for everybody,” Gallagher said.
The project, which has been approved by the EPA, will address metals-contaminated stormwater runoff that affects surface water bodies like Silver Bow Creek. It’s expected to be completed in four years and will involve turning it into a public green space.
“We’re going to have a playground, we’re going to have a nice structure for people to gather under, we’ll have interpretive features, wayfinding signage; it will look like a bona fide park space,” Atlantic/Richfield Liability Manager Josh Bryson said.
Crews are going to have to remove nearly 400,000 cubic yards of contaminated dirt from the site. Fortunately, they have about a dozen haul trucks that can hold up to 20 cubic yards of dirt to take up to the repository for each load. Loads will be taken up Excelsior Street, then north of Walkerville to the Butte Mine Waste Repository in northeast Butte.
“We’ll see trucks moving through; they’re going to be covered loads, they’re going to be protecting the community as they’re going through, and we’re making sure that we’re doing all protective measures as they’re traveling through the community,” Gallagher said.
