Tester Statement on EPA’s Proposal to Lower Lead Cleanup Levels in Butte

After Tester push, agency will lower the existing residential cleanup level for lead from 1,200 ppm to 175ppm and expand the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) boundary

U.S. Senator Jon Tester today released the following statement in response to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announcement of the completion of a Proposed Plan that will lower the existing residential cleanup level for lead and expand the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) boundary:

“Butte, America has been clear – they want a real say in how their community is cleaned up, and I am encouraged by today’s hard-fought win. I will continue to work alongside the people of Butte to ensure this lead removal moves forward in a timely manner and is dictated by what’s best for their community, not special interests. This announcement is an example of what can happen when folks work together and I am grateful for everyone who has partnered with me to have their voices heard.”

The Proposed Plan includes a new cleanup level of 175 parts per million (ppm) lead in soil and interior dust, replacing the current level of 1,200 ppm and expands the BPSOU boundary by approximately 3,637 acres to include an additional 7,253 homes. The release of the Proposed Plan initiates a 60-day public comment period on the proposed remedy changes, which runs from October 16 through December 16, 2024.

Last year, following conversations with Butte residents and community leaders regarding a lack of transparency and accountability from the EPA, Tester wrote a letter to EPA Administrator Michael Regan, calling on the agency to work with the Butte community to address waste-in-place concerns and to follow through on the EPA’s promise to provide public answers to Buttians in response to a public meeting. When it was announced that a Centerville neighborhood was the potential site of a waste repository to be owned by Atlantic Richfield and Butte-Silver Bow County, Tester encouraged the EPA to consider feedback and ideas from Butte residents before impacting residential areas.

In a Senate Appropriations hearing last May, Tester also pressed Administrator Regan on the Biden Administration’s failure to take community feedback into account when proceeding with Superfund cleanups. Tester specifically condemned the EPA’s lack of engagement with the community in Butte, which was declared a Federal Superfund Site in 1983 due to the damage caused by over a century of mining and smelting, and secured a commitment from Administrator Regan that EPA would take feedback from Butte residents into account as the Agency moves forward with cleanup efforts.

Tester has been Montana’s leading advocate for toxic-exposed communities and has kept the pressure on the Biden administration to take community feedback when working to address the lasting effects of exposure. Tester secured key provisions for superfund site cleanups in Montana through the 2024 government funding bill, including $546 million for the Hazardous Substance Superfund program. He also secured $15 million through his bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) for 11 Montana pollution cleanup projects.