Residential Metals Abatement Program

Residential Attic Cleanup Teams of three lead abatement specialists, after undergoing extensive training to work in hazardous conditions, perform dust removals in attics, with each house typically taking two to four days, depending on the size of the attic and amount of contaminated materials. Source: Courtesy of the Butte-Silver Bow Department of Reclamation and Environmental Services

More than 4,000 properties in Butte – and that number will continue to increase – became collection points for heavy metals, including residential neighborhoods, school playgrounds and parks.

Homes, schools and parks were either built on top of soils containing heavy metals, or dust in the air from mining and smelting activities settled on the ground or in house attics. These threats to human health were able to be addressed because of the Superfund program.

Between 1995 and 2024, after extensive sampling to identify and locate where metals contamination exceeded standards – specifically for lead, arsenic and mercury – almost 3,000 properties were abated, while another 1,000 properties are on a waiting list. In October 2024, the EPA proposed more stringent cleanup standards for these contaminants, triggering re-sampling of many properties, increasing the footprint of the area to be sampled, and adding thousands of properties to the abatement list to be addressed under the Superfund Program.

In this case, the remedy is all about protecting human health. If contaminant levels exceed the standard, 12 inches of soil is removed from the yards/parks/play areas and replaced with clean soil and sod or whatever ground covers the owner had in place. Interior spaces, with an emphasis on attics, are cleared of dust and other materials, such as contaminated insulation, using high powered vacuums.

The Program, which also includes biomonitoring and blood lead testing for children – the population most sensitive to lead poisoning – is expected to continue in Butte over the next several decades, and until such time as all threats to human health have been addressed.