Clark Fork River cleanup could require fresh flow of new dollars

Doug Martin, NRDP’s restoration program chief, acknowledged during a public meeting in April 2023 that the cleanup faced financial challenges. He mentioned a rainy-day “round robin” fund outlined in a 2008 Superfund settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state and Atlantic Richfield.

“It’s our intention, and has always been our direction, that we should get this project done without going into that round robin,” Martin said at the time.

That resolve seems to be eroding.

DEQ, which is shepherding the river cleanup, responded in late May to several questions from The Montana Standard.

“DEQ is currently in discussions with EPA regarding anticipated funding needs and to assess available options, including but not limited to invoking the round robin,” the agency said.

“Rising inflation and construction costs have been a driving factor in these discussions,” DEQ said.

Critics have said the slow progression of the river cleanup, with potential construction seasons bypassed for design work, has also increased costs.

As proposed, the round robin kicks in when available “response action” funds are spent. It would unfold like this: EPA pays the first $5 million, the state pays the second $5 million and Atlantic Richfield pays the third.

Under federal Superfund law, Atlantic Richfield, which purchased the Anaconda Co., the original polluter, in 1977, was considered liable for cleanup costs. 

A catastrophic flood in 1908 washed tailings downstream from mining, milling and copper smelting operations in Butte and Anaconda and deposited them deeply and widely across the Clark Fork River’s floodplain.

Fisheries surveys in 1891, before the flood, showed aquatic life in the Clark Fork had already been affected by the upstream pollution.

Contaminants include arsenic, copper, cadmium, lead and zinc. Metals in the tailings have been toxic to both terrestrial and aquatic life. Arsenic is more of a human health risk.

DEQ and NRDP released a strategic plan in March 23 described as a guide for river cleanup moving forward.

The agencies said they would regularly update the plan and budget realities. That hasn’t happened.

“DEQ and NRDP staff and management began discussing the plan’s update at the end of 2024,” DEQ said last month. “Although the update has taken longer than anticipated, it has remained a priority. DEQ and NRDP have been focused on evaluating the needs and requests of stakeholders, while determining the most effective format for the updated plan.”

Kathy Hadley has been a Clark Fork River advocate for decades.

“It’s hard to believe the plan update is a priority since they have been discussing the plan update internally for 18 months,” she said. “Respectfully, it hasn’t been a priority, or it would have been done.”

Hadley added, “DEQ and NRDP have been asked numerous times by stakeholders over the last year for an update on the strategic plan. It’s impossible for the public to have meaningful interactions with the agencies when we have no idea how much has been spent, what’s left, and whether the state is going to run out of money before the cleanup is done.”

DEQ said changes to the plan have the potential to prolong the work past the target of 2038 and noted that all the agencies involved must review and comment on strategic plan revisions.

That includes EPA, considered a support agency on the Clark Fork cleanup. It expressed concerns in 2023 about reducing the zone of work along the river’s floodplain, noting it “may not be fully protective.”

DEQ said it and NRDP still have the goal of finishing by 2038.

Remediation of the Clark Fork began in 2010. DEQ identified 22 phases along the 47 river miles between the river’s headwaters at Warm Springs and Garrison. To date, it has completed 8.5 of those phases.

DEQ has estimated the cleanup will require the removal or treatment of millions of cubic yards of contaminated soils and floodplain tailings, and remediation or restoration of about 1,000 acres of mining contamination. One cubic yard is roughly equivalent in size to a standard washing machine.

DEQ and NRDP completed work on Phase 7, about 1.4 river miles in the vicinity of Racetrack Pond, in late 2025.

As the work proceeds downstream, the hauling of excavated wastes to a repository in the Opportunity Ponds requires more time and money.

“Design work is underway for Phases 13 and 14, which encompass Arrowstone Park,” DEQ said. “DEQ is in the process of soliciting a contractor to conduct sampling at the park with the intent of filling data gaps. The hope is that work will take place by the end of June. Construction on these phases is tentatively slated to commence this winter.”

Arrowstone Park was built along the river in the late 1990s by an Atlantic Richfield contractor atop tailings that were deeply tilled with lime and then capped with clean soil. The remedy has failed in places, and tailings have leached to the surface. The park was posted in 2023 with “arsenic exposure" warning signs.  

Most of Arrowstone Park is within the Deer Lodge city limits. The park’s boat ramp is in Powell County, which maintains the park. The park is popular among walkers, bird watchers and dog owners.

Amanda Cooley, planning director for Powell County, has said the county anticipates playing an active role in the design of the park’s remedy.

In 2008, Atlantic Richfield paid the state about $122 million for the Clark Fork work, with $95 million earmarked for DEQ’s cleanup and $27 million for the NRDP’s role restoring and replacing damaged natural resources.

Before initiation of Phase 7, the sum of remaining funds totaled about $98.4 million. 

Clark Fork River cleanup tour

What: The 2026 Clark Fork River Tour and BBQ, hosted by the Clark Fork River Technical Assistance Committee

When: Tuesday, June 16, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.

Where: Meet at Arrowstone Park in Deer Lodge.

Cost: The tour and BBQ are free to participants.

Vans will transport attendees to Phase 7 and Phase 1 of Superfund cleanup along the Clark Fork River, offering a chance to compare.