Smelter Hill too contaminated for public

GREAT FALLS – Results of a new report indicate that the former Anaconda Mining Co. complex on Smelter Hill is too contaminated with lead and arsenic to be open to the public for recreation any time soon.

The report shows that protective topsoil is lacking or nonexistent in spots, and some of the nearly 100-year-old pollution is seeping into the Missouri River from the old Great Falls metals refinery. The report analyzed testing completed on the hill about a year ago.

Atlantic Richfield Co. owns the complex, which is next to the Missouri River at Black Eagle. The company has been working with the city and county since 1997 to develop a land-use plan for Smelter Hill.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality requested the federal government complete additional testing before recreation plans come to fruition.

The next step will be to determine whether Smelter Hill needs to be a federal Superfund site, which would make it eligible for federal money.