Judge keeps Superfund cleanup talks in Montana secret

HELENA – A judge says he won’t open to the public the long-running secret negotiations on the cleanup of the nation’s largest Superfund site.

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon denied the Montana Standard and Silver Bow Creek Headwaters Coalition’s request to intervene in the case between the Environmental Protection Agency and Atlantic Richfield Co.

The government sued Arco in 1989 over the cleanup of a century’s worth of mine waste from the soil and water of the copper-rich Butte Hill. Haddon himself ordered confidential settlement talks in 2002 and 2003.

The newspaper and the advocacy group had argued the public has a right to know what decisions are being made.

Haddon says the request comes 13 years too late, and the public will be able to comment on the settlement once it is reached.