EDITORIAL PAGE — A Superfund model

We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again: government agencies should stay out of the environmental remediation business, for the simple reason that private interests can do the job better, and at less cost.

For proof, one need look no farther than the Warm Springs Ponds project near Butte, Mont., which once resembled a moonscape and was one of the largest Superfund sites in the United States. Today, it is a nature-watcher’s paradise, and home to more than 160 species of resident and migratory waterfowl, trophy brown and rainbow trout, and other wildlife.

Warms Springs Ponds was constructed in 1918, as a disposal containment area for copper ore mill tailings. Over time, it grew to encompass three separate holding facilities in the floodplain of Silver Bow Creek.

Over a period of 65 years, about 19 million cubic yards of

metals-contaminated tailings, associated soils and precipitants, had settled behind the site’s three embankment dams. The migration of heavy metals into the surface flows of Silver Bow Creek created an environmental hazard for downstream residents and wildlife. Moreover, the dams did not meet safety standards, and were in danger of failing in the event of severe floods or earthquakes.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) originally estimated the cleanup cost at a minimum of US$72 million. The property owner, Atlantic Richfield, hired a private engineering firm, ESA Consultants, to design and implement a solution.

ESA’s remediation solution went farther than the federal cleanup standards, cost less than half as much as estimated in EPA’s feasibility, and had the added advantage of keeping all the contaminants on site.

At most sites, the solution is to remove the contaminated soil, perform the necessary remediation, and place the area off-limits. But this course of action clearly was not suitable for Warm Springs, which lies in a beautiful valley, bordered by national forests and inhabited by wildlife.

Instead, Silver Ponds’ stability and flood-routing capacity were increased as a result of rehabilitated embankments, upgraded hydraulic structures and a new, large flood channel. And the water from Silver Bow Creek is now cleaner as a result of being treated with lime and then impounded so as to settle metal precipitates. Also, more than 1.4 square miles of exposed tailings are covered with water, soil or natural vegetation. These improvements will keep contaminated soils on-site during severe earthquakes or floods.

In 1995, ESA received the Engineering Excellence Grand Award, presented each year by the American Consulting Engineers Council. The company is also a district nominee for the Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award, presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers.

ESA President Harry Hughes is pleased by the recognition, but says: “More important than any award are the lessons to be learned from this project — lessons that can be implemented at sites around the country, such as Rocky Mountain Arsenal and Rocky Mountain Flats, near Denver.”

What strikes us is how poorly the Summitville mine remediation program fares in comparison to Warm Springs. Summitville’s remediation is being handled by the EPA, and, by all accounts, the program being implemented is costly and ill-conceived. Taxpayers would no doubt have been better served had management of the project been undertaken by a private-sector firm with expertise and experience in mine-site remediation.