The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is starting excavation on East Helena properties this week as part of the extensive cleanup effort targeting the former smelter site. Lead-contaminated soil in the area necessitates these cleanups. Properties inside the East Helena Superfund boundaries with lead levels above EPA’s safety limits qualify for this remediation.
The American Smelting and Refining Company’s operations left surrounding land and groundwater contaminated from the late 1800s until 2001. Since 2009, around 2,048 acres in the East Helena Superfund Site have been handed over to the Montana Environmental Trust Group. The group collaborates with the EPA and East Helena city to turn parts of the land into public spaces like Prickly Pear Park.
The EPA has cleaned up 1,500 properties in East Helena since 2024, including 700 residential yards and 800 other sites like schools and playgrounds. This summer, about 200 homes are marked for decontamination, stated EPA Region 8 Administrator Cyrus Western.
“ One of the biggest pieces of criticism I think we get over the years is that we’re not moving fast enough, and quite frankly, that’s true,” Western said. “The East Helena site specifically is another example of us just saying, ‘Look, we know what we need to do. We’ve done the testing and analysis, we need to be reactive and get some of these yards cleaned up.’”
Lead exposure poses significant health risks, particularly to pregnant women and children, by affecting the nervous system, warns the World Health Organization. EPA-contracted crews will dig 18 inches into the ground to remove contaminated soil, transporting it to the old smelter site. The removed soil will form a base layer for a future protective cover, and clean soil from nearby communities will replace it. Yards will be finished with sod or ground cover to match their previous look.
In 2024, a $40 million fund from the federal government’s $1 billion Bipartisan Infrastructure Law was allocated to the East Helena Superfund site, focusing on removing lead-contaminated soil. “ This is part of our initiative and the administrator’s initiative to really make real tangible progress, right?” Western stated. “ Our number one priority is to deliver results. If you talk to folks in East Helena, and when I’ve talked to folks across Superfund sites across Montana and the region, they just want stuff to get done.” Western mentioned that the cleanup project will continue as weather permits this season and is planned to occur every summer until 2031.
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