Berkeley Pit possible option for disposal of waste - The Montana Standard

Berkeley Pit possible option for disposal of waste

Current possibilities include using the polluted Berkeley Pit as a wastes repository.

In addition, Atlantic Richfield is considering erecting a heavy-duty conveyor system to transport contaminated materials from cleanup sites in the so-called Silver Bow Creek Corridor near George Street.

Preliminary discussions suggest the conveyor structure could occupy or parallel walking trails in the area. The wastes would travel to a yet to be determined point east of Harrison Avenue and then likely transfer to trucks.
The Berkeley Pit is seen in this panoramic image shot in September. Software was used to combine multiple photographs together for this image.

Atlantic Richfield continues to contemplate building a wastes repository in the Kelley Mine Area. Yet Josh Bryson of Atlantic Richfield said unequivocally Wednesday night that the company has listened to concerns from residents about preserving the remnants of a historic neighborhood.

“We will avoid Dublin Gulch,” Bryson said during a presentation to the Butte-Silver Bow Council of Commissioners.

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On Thursday, Bryson acknowledged that using the notorious Berkeley Pit as a repository is receiving serious consideration. Logistics for transporting the wastes from historic mining and smelting operations to the Pit and for dumping them into waters toxic enough to kill unsuspecting waterfowl would have to be nailed down.
Josh Bryson of the Atlantic Richfield Co. shares an aerial representation of the proposed Kelley Mine Area wastes repository and "subareas" during a community meeting last month in Centerville.

During an Oct. 17 community meeting in Centerville, Bryson seemed to dismiss the Berkeley Pit alternative when it was raised by Jim Keane and others. But Bryson said Thursday that the idea now “has legs.”

Analysis must be completed of how the contaminated materials would affect the Pit and its chemistry, Bryson said.

And some materials, including those contaminated by gas or diesel fuels, would not be appropriate for dumping in the Pit, he said. Another repository would still be necessary.

Mark Thompson, vice president of environmental affairs for Montana Resources, expressed support for the idea of using the Pit for disposing of contaminants excavated from areas within the Silver Bow Creek Corridor such as Diggings East, Northside Tailings and the Butte Reduction Works.

“We fully support this alternative and believe it to be the best alternative,” he said.

The Berkeley Pit’s property and mineral rights are owned by Montana Resources. Atlantic Richfield and Montana Resources share in the site’s environmental liability.

Wednesday night’s council meeting opened with a public comment segment that included a parade of Butte residents opposed to siting a repository in the vicinity of the Centerville community and Dublin Gulch.

Lee Whitney reminded commissioners of examples of Butte’s lost neighborhoods, once rich in history and culture, which disappeared because of mining. She cited McQueen, Meaderville and East Butte.

“We believe it is imperative for our community to enhance and preserve (Dublin Gulch) in the best form possible,” Whitney said.

She quoted a cultural inventory completed by consulting archeologist Mitzi Rossillon, who described Dublin Gulch as “an increasingly rare remnant of an ethnic neighborhood.”

Other speakers included Keane, who made another pitch for the Berkeley Pit, and Bill Foley.

Foley said no Butte neighborhoods should fear the prospect of living near a repository filled with contaminated materials.

The primary contaminants of concern in the Silver Bow Creek Corridor are arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead, mercury and zinc. The wastes dumped at a land-bound repository would be capped with about 18 inches of soil and planted with vegetation, according to Atlantic Richfield.

Foley cited the emotional fight by residents of Timber Butte in 2020 to bar the siting of a wastes repository in their neighborhood’s vicinity and said residents of the Butte Hill also stand ready to voice opposition.

“They’re ready to fight for the neighborhood,” Foley said. “And there’s a lot more of them than there were from the Timber Butte neighborhood.”
A satellite view of the toxic Berkeley Pit, a former open pit copper mine that is currently one of the largest Superfund sites.

Bryson said Atlantic Richfield has already rejected using a section of the proposed Kelley Mine Area repository that would be too close to Centerville residents.

He said that if the Berkeley Pit comes to serve as the primary repository any such auxiliary facility at the Kelley Mine Area would be much smaller.

Bryson acknowledged that a conveyor system would present challenges. Some materials might be too large and cumbersome to fit for transport. Some might be too dry and dusty and some might be too wet and threatening to drip. The conveyor would create noise, he said, but not as much as a large haul truck. The structure would have to travel either beneath or above Harrison Avenue. The walking trails in that area would have to close during construction.

All of these challenges might be worth tackling if the conveyor system keeps a significant number of haul trucks off the roads, Bryson said.

He said one scenario would use a combination of conveyors and trucks to haul wastes to the Berkeley Pit. Then the task would be developing the system and equipment to safely dump the wastes.

On Wednesday night, both Bryson and J. P. Gallagher, chief executive of Butte-Silver Bow County, emphasized no final decisions have been made about a repository site or sites.

Yet Bryson also acknowledged some degree of urgency in making a site decision. Until that happens, excavation of wastes in the Silver Bow Creek Corridor will be on hold.