Community Invited to Sept. 22 Open House to Learn about Cleanup and Redevelopment Progress at Former ASARCO Smelter Site in East Helena

EAST HELENA, MT (September 17, 2025) – The community is invited to an open house Monday, September 22 to learn about cleanup and redevelopment progress at the former ASARCO Smelter Site in East Helena. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Montana Environmental Trust Group (METG), Trustee of the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust, are hosting the open house.

EPA, METG, and the East Helena project partners—the City of East Helena, Prickly Pear Land Trust (PPLT), Helena Area Habitat for Humanity, Oakland Companies, and East Helena Public Schools—will celebrate the national Phoenix Award given to the East Helena project in August in Chicago. Read about the award here.

Community Open House
Monday, September 22, 2025
3:00 p.m.–7:00 p.m.
METG Office, East Helena City Hall, 306 E. Main St., Rm. 202        

-Speak one-on-one with representatives of EPA, METG, and project partners.
-Community members and other stakeholders are encouraged to stop by anytime.
-Food will be provided.

FOR MORE INFORMATION
–Sept. 22 Open House flyer
–METG website
–EPA website

SITE BACKGROUND
A century of lead smelting contaminated soil and groundwater and left behind a 16-million-ton slag pile at the former ASARCO East Helena Smelter Site. In 2009, the Montana Environmental Custodial Trust was created as part of the ASARCO bankruptcy settlement, with METG appointed Trustee. METG is responsible for remediating the former smelter and facilitating safe, community-supported reuse of most of the approximately 2,000 contaminated, former ASARCO acres in collaboration with its project partners and East Helena stakeholders, under EPA oversight and for the benefit of the United States and State of Montana. The project earned a 2025 Phoenix Award for brownfields excellence at the National Brownfields Conference. METG’s parent company is Greenfield Environmental Trust Group.

SITE CLEANUP
Cleanup at the former smelter site has addressed much of the contamination from the smelting operation. Corrective measures implemented by METG have included moving 1.25 miles of Prickly Pear Creek away from the former smelter process area and slag pile to reduce groundwater contamination. The revitalized creek now meanders through remediated floodplain, wetlands, and habitat. More than 60 smelter structures were demolished, tons of waste stored in a corrective action management unit or under a 62-acre evapotranspiration cover system, and contaminant source areas removed. METG is continuing to pursue removal and recycling of unfumed slag before implementing the final corrective measure—grading and capping the slag pile—that will address the primary remaining source of selenium loading to groundwater. These corrective measures, together with the excavation of tons of highly contaminated soil, have reduced arsenic and selenium concentrations in groundwater by more than 50 percent since 2016. The new floodplain mitigates downstream flooding and, along with enhanced wetlands, supports diverse wildlife.

REDEVELOPMENT
So far, former ASARCO lands have been successfully redeveloped into two public schools (Prickly Pear Elementary School and East Helena High School), the 319-home Highland Meadows subdivision, two community parks (Prickly Pear Park and The Grove), a Lewis and Clark County search-and-rescue facility, the 26,000-square-foot Town Pump store, a manufacturing plant expansion, the new East Helena Valley Rodeo Association rodeo arena, and improved City of East Helena infrastructure. Another 5,500 homes, more parks, a Greenway from East Helena to Montana City, and additional commercial, office, light industrial, and retail uses are planned. See East Helena redevelopment. Only 20 former ASARCO acres remain available for sale in East Helena.