Archive for category: East Helena News

Contact: Richard Mylott, mylott.richard@epa.gov, 303-312-6654

WHO:
EPA Regional Administrator Gregory Sopkin
East Helena Mayor James Schell

Representatives from:

Montana Environmental Trust Group
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
Montana Department of Environmental Quality
Montana Department of Justice Natural Resource Damage Program
Lewis & Clark County Environmental Health Services Division
City of East Helena
East Helena Public Schools
Prickly Pear Land Trust

WHAT:
EPA will present members of the Montana Environmental Trust Group with the Excellence in Site Reuse award for the extensive work that has been done to advance the revitalization of the East Helena Superfund Site.  EPA will also recognize various partners who have contributed to the cleanup and reuse of the site. Interviews and photo opportunities will follow the event.

WHERE:
Prickly Pear Elementary School
2520 Valley Drive
East Helena, Montana

WHEN:
9 a.m. MST

Background
EPA is awarding the Excellence in Site Reuse Award to the Montana Environmental Trust Group’s East Helena Team and recognizing the many federal, state and local partners who have contributed to the revitalization of the East Helena Superfund site.  These awards recognize the teamwork and partnerships that have led to the successful remediation and redevelopment of former ASARCO properties in East Helena, Montana. Lands impacted by over 100 years of lead smelting operations are being transformed into new schools, residential subdivisions and trail networks.

This year, EPA is celebrating the 20^th Anniversary of the Superfund Redevelopment Initiative. East Helena offers a national example of transforming a complex hazardous waste site and achieving locally-supported reuse outcomes that will benefit the community for decades to come.

-END-

East Helena, MT (April 23, 2019) – The Montana Environmental Trust Group, LLC, as trustee of the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust, recently sold three parcels comprising almost 400 acres at its East Helena Superfund Site (the East Helena Site), generating nearly $3 million in sale proceeds to help pay for additional cleanup activities and paving the way for mixed-use and residential developments as well as a new public high school.

In October 2018, the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust (the Custodial Trust) completed the sale of the 254-acre Lamping Field property to an affiliate of Butte, Montana-based Town Pump, Inc. (Town Pump) for a mixed-use development. The Custodial Trust also closed on the sale of two Dartman Field parcels—35 acres in November 2018 to the East Helena Public Schools (EHPS) for a new high school, and 100 acres in December 2018 to Billings, Montana-based Oakland Companies for a 319-unit, single-family residential development.

The Custodial Trust’s land sales mark a turning point in the transformation of one of the country’s most complex hazardous waste sites, and the integration of community-supported reuses into remediation of former American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO) lands in East Helena.

According to Betsy Burns, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) project manager for the East Helena Site, “EPA supported the appointment of the Montana Environmental Trust Group to serve as Trustee of the Custodial Trust because of their track record of successfully remediating and redeveloping large, complex federal Superfund sites throughout the country. The Trust has far exceeded EPA’s goals and expectations in East Helena.”

According to Harley Harris, who oversees the State of Montana’s Natural Resource Damage Program, “The combined effect of the three transactions. . . represents a significant milestone in the implementation of the ASARCO bankruptcy settlement and the intended redevelopment of the former ASARCO lands.”

A century of lead smelting by ASARCO at the East Helena Site contaminated soils, sediments and groundwater. In December 2009, the Custodial Trust was established as part of the global settlement of the ASARCO bankruptcy. As part of the settlement, the Custodial Trust assumed responsibility for owning, administering, remediating and facilitating reuse of thousands of acres of contaminated land formerly owned by ASARCO in Montana, including the East Helena Site.

The majority of corrective measures designed to address contamination from the former smelter have been implemented. The Custodial Trust has already documented reductions in groundwater contamination from the smelter. The Custodial Trust, in its ongoing partnership with its beneficiaries—the United States and the State of Montana—and the East Helena stakeholders, looks forward to implementing final cleanup measures and paving the way for redevelopment of the remaining ASARCO lands.

The 2018 land sales have helped fulfill the Custodial Trust’s goal of returning former ASARCO lands to productive reuse in a manner that protects human health and the environment while benefiting the East Helena community.

Plans for Mixed-Use Development (Lamping Field)

As part of its efforts to market and sell Lamping Field, the Custodial Trust partnered with the Montana Business Assistance Connection (MBAC), a non-profit economic development corporation. In 2017, MBAC received a grant from the Montana Department of Commerce’s Big Sky Economic Development Trust Fund to help position Lamping Field for sale—and the Custodial Trust matched the grant funds.

In late 2018, the sale of 254 acres at Lamping Field to Town Pump put a pivotal parcel into the hands of an owner-operator of more than 200 businesses, including hotels, casinos and convenience stores, in Montana and Idaho. In East Helena, Town Pump operates two convenience stores, and the company’s purchase at Lamping Field comes as part of its aggressive acquisition and development strategy.

The Town Pump land purchase has already had positive ripple effects.

“The Town Pump transaction helped catalyze the subsequent land sales at nearby Dartman Field,” said Cindy Brooks, the Custodial Trust’s managing principal and the president of the Greenfield Environmental Trust Group, Inc., parent of the Montana Environmental Trust Group (METG), trustee of the Custodial Trust.

Brooks said the Town Pump purchase will encourage future reuse of other tracts too. “There’s always synergy. It sounds corny, but if you build it, others will come,” Brooks said.

East Helena High School to Open in 2020 (Dartman Field)

Acquisition of 35 acres at Dartman Field has allowed the EHPS to proceed with construction of the first-ever East Helena High School. It will be built near the newly opened Prickly Pear Elementary School, which is located on a 50-acre Dartman Field parcel that the Custodial Trust donated to the EHPS in 2016.

The high school was made possible by an act passed by the Montana legislature in 2017, followed by two ballot referenda approved by East Helena School District voters that, first, authorized issuance of a $29.5 million bond to build the high school, and second, approved acquisition of the Dartman Field parcel for the high school. Finally, in November 2018, the Dartman Field Minor Subdivision—East Helena’s first ever subdivision—created the EHPS parcel. Construction of the new high school began in March 2019.

According to EHPS Superintendent Ron Whitmoyer, “METG’s diligence, commitment and thoughtful approach to remediating and redeveloping the former (ASARCO) lands have helped transform the community of East Helena. Together, METG and EPA have made a lasting contribution to the EHPS mission to create an educational experience for our students that is designed to cultivate an appreciation of learning, a sense of self-worth and mutual respect for their world and each other.”

Planned 319-Unit, Single-Family Residential Subdivision

The immediate proximity of the planned East Helena High School and the new Prickly Pear Elementary School helped motivate Gary Oakland to buy 100 acres at Dartman Field for development of the 319-home, single-family Highland Meadows Subdivision.

According to Brooks, “Living near a school comes with many advantages for homeowners, families and communities. Gary Oakland and his team clearly understood those benefits in making their decision to acquire the Dartman Field property. Town Pump’s plans for a mixed-used development on nearby Lamping Field is also consistent with the Highland Meadows subdivision by Oakland, whose company has built hundreds of homes in Montana and elsewhere in the Rocky Mountain West.”

Oakland’s residential project is aligned with the reuse plan envisioned by the City of East Helena for this area, as reflected in the decisions by the City Planning Board, City Zoning Commission and City Council to rezone the property from an agricultural to a residential district in 2017. Oakland has been working with the City to secure approval of the Highland Meadows subdivision so that the company can break ground on the first phase of development in the summer of 2019.

According to Gary Oakland, the Custodial Trust has “developed a unique and much-needed business model to restore these devastated lands back into productive use. You are to be commended. I hope that we may work with you again in the near future.”

Proposed Public Access to Prickly Pear Creek

As part of the Custodial Trust’s remediation of the East Helena Site, more than a mile of Prickly Pear Creek was realigned to reduce groundwater contact with soil contaminants. The creek now flows through hundreds of acres of newly restored floodplain, habitat and conservation land. With the creek’s rehabilitation mostly complete, in collaboration with EPA and the State of Montana Natural Resource Damage Program, the Custodial Trust is actively exploring the potential transfer of 350 acres in the creek corridor to a long-term steward to ensure public recreational access to the waterway for generations to come.

The nonprofit Prickly Pear Land Trust has expressed interest in acquiring acreage for inclusion in the proposed Prickly Pear Creek Greenway trail linking East Helena to communities nearby. East Helena stakeholders have also voiced support for creation of a recreational resource along the creek.

“There’s currently no public access to Prickly Pear Creek or significant dedicated green space in the City of East Helena, which is one of the many reasons the Custodial Trust supports implementation of this beneficial public use,” Brooks said.

The Custodial Trust’s Prickly Pear Creek revitalization project received a prestigious, national 2019 Grand Award in the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) Engineering Excellence

Awards. The Prickly Pear Creek project also is a finalist for the ACEC 2019 Grand Conceptor Award, which signifies the best overall engineering achievement in the country.

The three land sales generated a combined $2,881,270.83 for the East Helena Cleanup Account. Here are highlights of each sale:

Lamping Field: Land sale for the planned mixed-use development

Acres:                         Approx. 254
New Owner:             East Helena Opportunities LLC, affiliate of Town Pump, Inc.
Date:                          October 22, 2018 

Dartman Field: Land sale for the planned East Helena High School

Acres:                          Approx. 35
New Owner:              East Helena Public Schools, School District No. 9
Date:                           November 8, 2018 

Dartman Field: Land sale for the planned 319-unit, single-family residential subdivision

Acres:                          Approx. 100
New Owner:              Highland Meadows, LLC, affiliate of Oakland Companies
Date:                           December 11, 2018

About the Montana Environmental Trust Group

The Montana Environmental Trust Group (METG), as trustee of the Custodial Trust, was established in 2009 as part of the global settlement of the ASARCO bankruptcy. The Custodial Trust’s primary role is to protect human health and the environment in partnership with its beneficiaries—the United States, acting through the EPA, and the State of Montana, acting through the Montana Department of Environmental Quality —and with community stakeholders.

The Custodial Trust’s responsibilities include owning, administering and remediating two federal and two state hazardous waste sites in Montana: the 2,000-acre East Helena Site as well as hundreds of mine-scarred acres at the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex/Mike Horse Mine, the Black Pine Mine and the Iron Mountain/Flat Creek mining area.

The Custodial Trust received $138 million to remediate and facilitate reuse of the four sites. The Custodial Trust has been managing remedial actions that have included construction of a sustainable cover system—the largest of its type in the country—and excavation of tons of contaminated material, as well as relocation of Prickly Pear Creek.

METG is a subsidiary of Greenfield Environmental Trust Group, Inc.

Media Contact: Christine Amrhine, Montana Environmental Trust Group, LLC (METG), trustee of the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust (Custodial Trust), 540-846-3163, ca@g-etg.com

EAST HELENA, MT – Montana Environmental Trust Group, LLC, Trustee of the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust, and its contractor Pioneer Technical Services received a 2019 American Council of Engineering Companies of Montana Engineering Excellence Award for the Prickly Pear Creek realignment in East Helena.

Montana Environmental Trust Group’s (METG) Prickly Pear Creek relocation project won the 2019 Environmental Category Honor Award from the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) of Montana. METG teamed with Pioneer Technical Services to realign more than a mile of Prickly Pear Creek in order to reduce water contact with soil contaminants and their potential migration.

The project protects human health and the environment permanently by reducing groundwater contamination and isolating the eroding slag pile on the East Helena site without need for future pumping or maintenance. The work has established a natural-functioning stream, created an enhanced habitat for fish and wildlife, and mitigated flooding for flood-prone areas of East Helena.

METG is the court-appointed trustee of the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust, which was established in 2009 as part of the Asarco bankruptcy settlement. METG is responsible for owning, remediating and redeveloping thousands of acres once owned by Asarco. For eight years, METG has worked to address contamination in soils, sediments and groundwater left behind by more than a century of lead smelting.

The Prickly Pear Creek realignment is a cornerstone of METG’s remediation and restoration efforts in East Helena. The creek realignment was completed in four main phases of work. First, a bypass channel was created to temporarily divert the creek flow. The next phase included drainage and excavation of the creek, followed by reconstruction of the new creek bed and building an earth berm to stabilize the nearby eroding slag pile. Prickly Pear Creek flow was then diverted to the new creek bed. Lastly, the wetlands were reconstructed and the bypass channel was reclaimed.

METG’s Prickly Pear Creek project and other winners of the ACEC-Montana 2019 Engineering Excellence Awards were honored at the Montana Engineering Honors Banquet held in conjunction with the Joint Engineers Conference on Nov. 7, 2018.

 

For more information, photos, and videos, visit the METG website at mtenvironmentaltrust.org.

 

The Montana Environmental Trust Group (METG), Trustee of the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust, is moving forward with cleanup of the former Asarco smelter.  METG’s progress is visible on the west side of Highway 518 in East Helena where construction workers can be seen operating excavators, cranes, trucks and other heavy equipment.  Work underway on the so-called “East Bench” – the area between Prickly Pear Creek (PPC) and Highway 518 south of Highway 12 – is one part of a series of inter-related, EPA-approved cleanup plans (called Interim Measures or IMs).  These IMs are designed to reduce the offsite migration of contaminants in groundwater resulting from more than a century of smelting activities at the former Asarco facility.

Contaminated soils in direct contact with groundwater beneath the smelter site contribute to the contaminant plumes migrating off-site.  Because it is not technically or financially possible to remove all the waste that is contaminating groundwater, the cleanup plans focus on “getting the waste out of the water.”  Surface water from PPC and the manmade Upper and Lower Lakes raises groundwater levels in the south plant area, which increases the loading of contaminants to groundwater and pushes plumes of contamination offsite.  The cleanup plan is designed to reduce surface water recharge from Upper Lake, Lower Lake and PPC to groundwater at the south end of the site and is referred to as the “South Plant Hydraulic Control (SPHC) Interim Measure (or SPHC IM).”  To lower groundwater levels and reduce this recharge from the south plant area, SPHC IM entails draining the water from the lakes and realigning PPC to the east away from the south plant area.

East Bench construction activities are paving the way for realignment of PPC, which is the centerpiece of the SPHC IM.  Beginning in May, utilities were moved from the area where the realigned PPC will be constructed.  Working with NorthWestern Energy and CenturyLink, existing power distribution lines and telecommunications cables were moved to a utility corridor along Highway 518.  Partnering with the City of East Helena, METG also installed a new City waterline to replace the existing East Bench waterline.  At the City’s request, METG upgraded the waterline to allow the City to improve and expand its water service.

METG began construction of the PPC Temporary Bypass Channel in early July.  The purpose of this channel is to temporarily divert PPC flows away from the south plant area to drain water from Upper and Lower Lakes.  The PPC Temporary Bypass Channel consists of a low flow channel and a larger floodplain channel.  Material excavated from the PPC Temporary Bypass Channel will eventually be used as part of a capping system to be installed on the former smelter property.  After Upper and Lower Lakes are dry, the Upper Lake berm and diversion structure will be removed.  With the Temporary Bypass Channel in operation, the realigned PPC can be constructed, PPC flows can be directed into the realigned PPC and Smelter Dam can be removed.  (Smelter Dam and other PPC structures, which have not been maintained, could fail and potentially cause downstream flooding.)  The PPC Temporary Bypass Channel may be retained as an overflow channel while the realigned PPC stabilizes in the new creek bed after which the channel can be reclaimed and integrated into the PPC realignment.  The PPC Temporary Bypass Channel is slated to be operational this fall.  Remaining work on the creek will be implemented in the next two to three years.

Implementation of SPHC IM, including PPC realignment, will significantly reduce the loading of contaminants to groundwater.  Realignment of PPC will also create numerous other benefits, including: reduced erosion of slag into PPC; increased flood storage; enhanced creek habitat; and elimination of the major impediment to fish passage on PPC by removal of Smelter Dam.  Construction of the PPC Temporary Bypass Channel represents a critical first step in the realizing these important environmental and community events.

For more information please contact Cindy Brooks, Director of Remediation and Redevelopment for the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust, by email at cb@g-etg.com or by telephone at 617-448-9762.

Download this press release as a PDF

EAST HELENA, MONTANA— Residents and commuters driving on State Highway 12 or Smelter Road near the American Chemet facility should take one last look at the former Asarco Ore Storage and Handling Building (OSHB). That’s because the massive pre-cast concrete structure—bigger than a football field and more than six stories high—is coming down. “Barring weather delays, demolition of the OSHB is slated to begin on April 8th,” according to Cindy Brooks, head of the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust, the Trustee that assumed responsibility for cleanup of the Asarco 2009. Under oversight of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Montana Trust is poised to begin construction of several measures designed to address groundwater and soil contamination resulting from a century of smelting operations. In the coming weeks, the Montana Trust also plans to remove other buildings near the OSHB, including the two green-and-yellow fabric structures—dubbed the “Barnham and Bailey” buildings because they resemble large circus tents. EPA and the Montana Trust are seeking to recycle and salvage as much material as possible from the planned demolition activities.

According to Betsy Burns, EPA Cleanup Manager for East Helena, “It’s gratifying to see demolition move forward after several years of planning and studies. This work represents an important step in the clean up the former Asarco smelter.” EPA and the Montana Trust hope to remove the remaining on-site structures by the end of next year, leaving the 14-million ton slag pile as one of the last visible remnants of the Asarco smelter. Burns also advised that, “Folks may see construction on the western side of State Highway 518 just east of Prickly Pear Creek where power, telephone and water lines will be relocated to make way for construction of the temporary bypass channel for the section of the creek below smelter dam.” The Montana Trust has been working closely with the City of East Helena, NorthWestern Energy and Century Link on these utility projects.

The OSHB is the largest and newest building on the smelter property. In its heyday, the Asarco smelter produced lead bullion from diverse concentrates and ores from mines and facilities all over the world. In 1988 alone, Asarco received more than 200,000 tons of such raw materials—delivered by rail or truck, offloaded, stored in piles and then blended and mixed with fluxes to render them suitable for smelting. Before the OSHB was constructed in 1990, these operations took place in the outdoor storage yard or in a small, unventilated building, which generated significant, uncontrolled dust. The OSHB was designed to enclose and ventilate these operations in order to control dust emissions. The useful life of this behemoth structure was cut short after little more than a decade, when the smelter was shutdown in 2001.

The Montana Trust assumed ownership, management, cleanup and redevelopment responsibility for the ASARCO sites in Montana, including the former East Helena smelter, when the ASARCO bankruptcy was settled in December of 2009. The Montana Trust is cleaning up the East Helena site under the oversight of EPA as Lead Agency. Other Montana Trust sites include former ASARCO mines in Lincoln, Phillipsburg and Superior. The United States and the State of Montana are the beneficiaries of the Montana Trust.