{"id":110,"ordinal":11,"modified":"2026-04-17 19:58:29","content_modified":"2026-04-17 19:58:29","featured":0,"title":"Superfund Project","creator":"Jon Sesso","description":"<p>The environmental cleanup in Butte, often referred to as the “Superfund Project” is a story about the effects of heavy metals on soil and water, and the response effort ordered under a federal law. It’s a story about widespread hazardous waste pollution stemming from a century of mining the Richest Hill on Earth, and a community’s environment that has now experienced decades of remedial and restorative actions. Surely, there are more chapters to be written, but circa 2024, the story of Butte’s Superfund Project is one about substantial improvements and a transformed landscape.\r\nThe relatively new Superfund Project pales in comparison to the story of 160 years of mining in the Butte area. Gold and silver placer mining on Silver Bow Creek began as far back as 1864, followed by extensive underground copper mines, which continued until 1989, and open pit mining operations that started in 1955 and are ongoing today. Records indicate that mines blanketed the “Hill” north of Front Street, throughout the Uptown District, the residential neighborhoods of Meaderville and McQueen, and Butte’s Upper and Lower West Side, and north into Centerville and Walkerville. There are more than 4,000 mining claims in the Butte district and 3,500 miles (10,000 miles by some estimates) of underground workings.\r\nThis historic mining and smelting activity resulted in substantial soil and water contamination, and changes in the way ground and surface waters flowed in and near Butte, Anaconda, and other areas along the Upper Clark Fork River corridor. Remnants of this mining and smelting history presented a significant hazard to human health and the environment. Heavy metals in waste rock and tailings generated from operations covered much of the Hill; when it rained in Butte, those metals eroded from the waste rock piles and flowed downhill in stormwater, causing extensive water quality problems in Silver Bow Creek and its floodplain.\r\n</p>","postscript_text":"Click thumbnail images of photos for full photo viewing.","tour_img":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/70d3cb571af02df5b509f9479061e93d.jpg","items":[{"id":3516,"title":"Superfund Legislation","latitude":46.02342041423088403462315909564495086669921875,"longitude":-112.5290064812361379154026508331298828125,"thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/70d3cb571af02df5b509f9479061e93d.jpg","fullsize":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/70d3cb571af02df5b509f9479061e93d.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":3517,"title":"Soil Cleanup","latitude":46.0327317802960891413022181950509548187255859375,"longitude":-112.537005901467637158930301666259765625,"thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/9cfc9a9cb141a0d70ead32d9d53668c9.jpg","fullsize":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/9cfc9a9cb141a0d70ead32d9d53668c9.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":3518,"title":"Residential Metals Abatement Program","latitude":46.0180325140192820754236890934407711029052734375,"longitude":-112.532864570748643018305301666259765625,"thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/cdffcfd8a4d0104f94409e8ec1c54e8a.jpg","fullsize":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/cdffcfd8a4d0104f94409e8ec1c54e8a.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":3519,"title":"Groundwater Contamination","latitude":46.01169927189128117106520221568644046783447265625,"longitude":-112.517801284921006299555301666259765625,"thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/4bb60e6d01b97fb6c82e9383d488936f.jpg","fullsize":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/4bb60e6d01b97fb6c82e9383d488936f.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":3521,"title":"Protecting the Alluvial Aquifer","latitude":46.00273612202752104849423631094396114349365234375,"longitude":-112.512372493874863721430301666259765625,"thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/548a9c4cd7d217c5a3e8ec13c661da1b.jpg","fullsize":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/548a9c4cd7d217c5a3e8ec13c661da1b.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":3522,"title":"Stormwater and Sanitary Sewer Water Contamination","latitude":46.0282599131794114555304986424744129180908203125,"longitude":-112.535033941285291803069412708282470703125,"thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/52949802fb7cd7e2db44eb076996aa24.jpg","fullsize":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/52949802fb7cd7e2db44eb076996aa24.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":3523,"title":"Surface Water Contamination","latitude":45.999971172990598233809578232467174530029296875,"longitude":-112.5776188374220510013401508331298828125,"thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/db9b2c657a2ea3ac0cfd03ea9d3a9666.jpg","fullsize":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/db9b2c657a2ea3ac0cfd03ea9d3a9666.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}},{"id":3524,"title":"End Land Use and Community Assets","latitude":45.9769712806254773340697283856570720672607421875,"longitude":-112.5446834569447673857212066650390625,"thumbnail":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/square_thumbnails/b1bcf8f2710b996f16833aa6ace2c045.jpg","fullsize":"https://storyofbutte.org/files/fullsize/b1bcf8f2710b996f16833aa6ace2c045.jpg","subtitle":null,"address":null,"custom":{"subtitle":null,"text":null}}]}