Formatted Title

Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area: Combining History, Remediation, and Sustainability in Butte, Montana

Background/Objectives

Butte, Montana is a historic copper mining town, once the source of much of the world’s copper in the late 19th and early 20th centuries needed to bring electricity to the American consumers and businesses, to connect people across the nation through telecommunication lines, and to produce the metal products that brought America into the modern industrial age. Butte is bisected by Silver Bow Creek. The century of mining in Butte resulted in countless, contaminated groundwater, and discharge of metals-impacted stormwater to Silver Bow Creek. Remediation started in 1983 and continues today. In September 2020, the Federal District Court of Montana approved the motion to enter the Butte Priority Soils Operable Unit (BPSOU) Consent Decree and supporting documents. The BPSOU Consent Decree reflects agreement on many remedial actions to be accomplished over the next several years, including the Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area (SBCCA). The project site lies in the heart of Butte, Montana. The project sites straddle residential, commercial, and industrial zones. The project area provides a physical and visual connection between historic Uptown Butte and the more recent development on the Butte Flats. Under the agreement within the Consent Decree, the responsible party has been tasked with design and implementation of the 120-acre SBCCA. The overall project is a combination of eight separate but interconnected projects along the Silver Bow Creek Corridor, which includes removal of nearly 800,000 cubic yards of contaminated mine waste, removal of contaminated stream sediment, stream reconstruction, capture and treatment of stormwater, and capture and treatment of contaminated groundwater. At present, one non-remedial site is under construction, while the remaining projects are progressing through design. Remedy development included all aspects of ESG; a social goal was to understand the historical significance and future vision of the community and integrate that with the client’s sustainability goals.

Approach/Activities

The project team conducted a robust public outreach program to solicit public feedback about the desired end land use of the SBCCA. Our approach included multiple public workshops and meetings to garner public input. By gaining an array of feedback, we were able to hear the concerns and opportunities important to the community. In tandem with this community outreach, the project is pursuing SITES and ENVISION certifications that coincide with the sustainability goals of the client. A design solution that combined the community’s wants with the client’s sustainability goals, such as increasing biodiversity and implementing nature-based solutions, to deliver a remedy that is protective of human health and the environment. The result is a 120-acre chain of remediated and revegetated public park areas in the heart of the town that provides recreational, community, and environmental benefits through the installation of stormwater treatment catch basins and capture and treatment of contaminated groundwater.

Results/Lessons Learned

The Silver Bow Creek Conservation Area is a product of combining community visioning sessions, client sustainability goals, and required remedy elements. By incorporating all of these diverse levers into the design and implementation process, we were able to deliver a remedy that is a true benefit to the community. This presentation will show how we incorporated public input, the client’s sustainability goals, and remedial requirements together to develop a remedy that created a resilient, biodiverse, multi-use public space that is enmeshed with the community.