Article published Feb 8, 2008

Settlement to end 25-year lawsuit over mine pollution

By SUSAN GALLAGHER

Associated Press Writer

HELENA — An agreement between the state and Atlantic Richfield Co. signals the end of a 25-year-old lawsuit over environmental damage caused by a century of mining in southwestern Montana.

The $168 million settlement that state and federal officials announced Thursday in Butte follows a previous agreement in which Atlantic Richfield paid the state $230 million to partially address environmental harm from mining and the processing of metals. The settlement decree filed Thursday addresses damage claims not resolved by the first deal, in 1999.

The latest settlement, subject to a 60-day period for public comment and the consent of a federal judge, is expected to end the litigation, Montana Attorney General Mike McGrath said. The $168 million is part of a $187 million Atlantic Richfield package that includes payments to the federal government for environmental work in Montana.

Mining and smelting in the Butte area from the late 19th century through much of the 20th century inflicted damage miles away, contaminating soil and streambeds, destroying vegetation and harming wildlife.

The damaged area became the nation's largest Superfund site, stretching 120 miles from the Butte area almost to Missoula.

"This dilemma started 100 years ago with (copper king) Marcus Daly, the miner's miner," said Gov. Brian Schweitzer. He said the litigation has gone through "a 25-year period of discussion, negotiation, tire-kicking and cussing."

Schweitzer expressed enthusiasm for the economic gains he expects Montana to reap from the final settlement.

"This means high-paying jobs for a dozen or more years" as environmental repair continues, he said in a statement. "This is $168 million for truck drivers and heavy-equipment operators. This is money that will stay in the region and roll over on Main Street five or six times."

It was 1983 when the state sued Atlantic Richfield for money to restore damage to the environment and to compensate for the public's loss of resources, such as fishing waters polluted by mining. The company, now part of BP, became involved after its acquisition of the Anaconda Co., the mining business that Marcus Daly and three partners incorporated in 1891.

The state largely invested the money received from Atlantic Richfield through the 1999 agreement and has used the interest for environmental restoration at affected areas in the Clark Fork River Basin. A Clark Fork tributary, Silver Bow Creek, had been considered a dead stream, but part of it has been revitalized. Trout were found there last year, and further restoration is planned.

In a statement released by Atlantic Richfield, regional manager Robin Bullock said the company expects the final settlement to fund "cooperative reclamation efforts (that) will continue to benefit the public and other stakeholders and constitute a major step toward completing the Superfund process in the Clark Fork River Basin."

The environmental work is being done by the state, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the company, working with contractors.

Atlantic Richfield is the main source of money to remove the Milltown Dam on the Clark Fork River and some accumulated sediment contaminated with metals carried downstream from Butte. Cost of the ongoing work at the northern end of the Superfund site is about $120 million.

In the Montana Department of Justice, mining contamination led to the creation of a special eight-person unit, called the Natural Resources Damage Program. That unit will remain in place even as the litigation ends, McGrath said.

"We have a lot of work to do," McGrath said. "We have to sort out how to spend the money. Some of it is earmarked, some of it won't be."

McGrath said the principal from the 1999 settlement will now be spent on restoration. State officials had wanted to wait until the lawsuit was completely settled before spending the funds, to know how much total money would be available for environmental repair.

Projects covered by the latest settlement will include work to improve water quality in the Butte area, and to restore land harmed by air pollution from the Anaconda Co. smelter in the town of Anaconda. Emissions damaged nearly 18 square miles in the mountains around the community. Also funded by the settlement will be work to reverse some of the harm to aquatic and streamside life in the upper Clark Fork River.