The Taming of the Berkeley Pit by Dick Maney documents the construction of the Polishing Plant that was designed to filter mine water to a point that it could be safely discharged into Silver Bow Creek. The process, the construction, and the reasons for the Polishing...
ABC FOX Montana – Berkeley Pit Waterfowl Protection Program
Every year thousands of birds fly over Butte on their migrations. Engineers work diligently as part of the Berkeley Pit Waterfowl Protection Program to ensure these birds don't come to rest on the Pit. ABC FOX Montana reported on how the program achieves a success...
Superfund during the COVID-19 pandemic
By Matt Vincent Right now, everything is seemingly within the iron grip of the novel coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic. Our daily lives have been redefined by the government’s response. As of Tuesday, April 15, Montana has 404 confirmed cases, 50 cumulative...
Water discharged from Butte Mine Flooding site, Including the Berkeley Pit, for the First Time
By Tim Hilmo, Project Manager, Atlantic Richfield Company With minimal headlines, treated water was discharged from the Butte Mine Flooding site to Silver Bow Creek for the first time starting on September 30, 2019. Water from the Berkeley Pit is being treated at the...
Snow Geese Update
• It is estimated that many thousands of migrating snow geese stopped in the Berkeley Pit the week of November 28, 2016. The number of migrating geese that passed through this area and landed in the Berkeley Pit is unprecedented. Most geese left the pit on Tuesday...
Study details slope stability
The rate of rise of water levels in the Berkeley Pit and connected monitoring points is affected by many factors, including rain and snowfall and occasional ‘sloughs’ or ‘slumps’ of material from the Pit’s sidewall slopes. The most recent slough occurred on February...
Water level rising more slowly than originally projected
Since the Berkeley Pit was designated as a Superfund site in the 1980s, things have gone largely as expected. In one instance the site remedy has proceeded at a faster pace than mandated in the 1994 Record of Decision (or ROD, available in its entirety here). The ROD...
Computer Model Shows Berkeley Pit & Butte Mine Tunnels
The Montana Bureau of Mines & Geology (MBMG) developed this computer model showing Butte topography and the corresponding underground tunnels from the years of historic underground mining. The red dots at the surface and red lines below represent vertical shafts,...