Superfund cleanups in the upper Clark Fork River Basin were a substantial focus of the 6^th Clark Fork Symposium held last week at the University of Montana.

The two-day event, held every five years since 1985, kicked off with a state of the Clark Fork River by UM professor Vicki Watson. Dr. Watson offered an overview of current conditions, trends, challenges and actions. The river is showing some encouraging signs of recovery, such as a 2009 sampling of macroinvertebrates ( e.g. aquatic insects like stoneflies) that showed the stream, with 10 years of cleanup and restoration work behind it, moved from a severely impaired to moderately impaired category. Still plenty of challenges remain aside from the cleanup. Among them are climate change and population growth, both of which place demands on the river's water. Some 87 miles of the upper Clark Fork are considered chronically dewatered.

Dr. Watson nonetheless found encouragement in the amount of resources dedicated to restoring the Clark Fork River. The EPA and NRDP (and BP-ARCO) alone account for more than billion dollars in funding for the river. Numerous other agencies are involved as well. And, she pointed out, it's a long term commitment. "Watershed keeping is like housekeeping, it's never over."

Joel Chavez from the Montana DEQ talked about the ongoing cleanup and restoration work on more than 21 miles of Silver Bow Creek. That effort, led by the state with EPA oversight, began in 1999 involves removing and shipping more than four million tons of floodplain contamination to BP-ARCO's repository. The agency is also building a new stream, one that will be allowed to move naturally across the floodplain. It's an example of integrated remediation and restoration, and one that's come in under budget. (An estimated $30 to $50 million will be returned to the NRDP and spent elsewhere.)

The upper reaches of Silver Bow Creek, now a decade into recovery, look like a stream on the mend. The creek has seen the return of some early pioneer trout, including a 13-inch cutthroat. Wildlife, from bears to bighorns, and some 70 bird species have made use of the restored sections of the stream. Chavez said the work and the recovery will be monitored for at least 20 years. "It doesn't take very long to make a big mess but it takes a long time and a lot of money to clean it up," he said.

On the Clark Fork River, Chavez said the cleanup is "a little bit different" given that many of the sites are private, productive ag land. Early success will help convince landowners about the cleanup. Fortunately, the cleanup will largely start on the uppermost reach of the Clark Fork on land owned by BP-ARCO. "The first one you do has to be the best."

Once in full swing, Chavez said there will be two to three major construction projects ongoing along the river per year.

Carol Fox of the NRDP gave an overview of the state's lawsuits against ARCO that created the fund and highlighted the cooperation among agencies, calling it an "intricate spider web." The program has seen success in the upper river, particularly the Milltown and Silver Bow Creek projects.

Pat Saffel, fisheries biologist with the FWP, said the agency's vision for the Clark Fork is "an ecologically restored river that is a source of enjoyment for the people, economic growth and pride." The agency is working the NRDP to prioritize projects and have done fishery and habitat assessments on 120 upper Clark Fork tributaries. Priorities for projects will be to restore the mainstem, improve the tribs, and enhance native fisheries.

Butte legislator Jon Sesso recounted the history of the five square mile Butte Superfund site. Focused on soil and water, goals in Butte are to eliminate human contact with contaminants for residents, to remove or cap contaminated soils and to control contaminated runoff. Sesso described numerous cleanup efforts throughout the city, in places such as East Butte, Timber Butte and Missoula Gulch over the last two decades. And some sites have been redeveloped with energy-efficient affordable housing, ball parks and trails.

And for lessons learned about 25 years of Butte Superfund effort, Sesso turned to the Laws of Ecology from famed biologist Barry Commoner:

• Everything is connected to everything else.
• Everything must go somewhere.
• Nature knows best.
• There's no such thing as a free lunch.

For additional coverage, see the Montana Kaimin and the Missoulian.

The website, Science, Society & Superfund: A Social History of America's Largest Superfund Site, is an outgrowth of a National Science Foundation-funded study led by Montana Tech professor and CFRTAC volunteer Pat Munday. Though specifically a comparative study of several sites in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin of western Montana -- including Butte, Anaconda, Silver Bow Creek, the Clark Fork River, and Milltown Dam -- the results study is of general interest to anyone that wonders how grassroots citizens' groups can effectively influence Superfund clean-up decisions.

The site features numerous presentations on the upper Clark Fork, archival files of agency documents and press coverage summaries from the 1980s and 90s.

"Clearly, if funds are available (from natural resource damage money), and the people of Butte would like to spend it that way, clearly it seems like a win-win situation, and construction could begin soon," Gov. Schweitzer told the Montana Standard last week.

Under NRDP rules, the governor makes the final call on spending NRDP funds.

Reaction to the proposal, however, has been mixed. Check out articles and editorial in the Helena Independent Record and a column from the Missoula Independent.

In a press release, the DEQ says it and the Montana Department of Justice (DOJ) have agreed to settle a state lawsuit against Stimson Lumber Company as part of a proposed Administrative Order on Consent between the state agencies and the company. The proposed Order requires the company to remove a cooling pond and a large berm built out into the Blackfoot River at Stimson's former lumber mill in Bonner, Montana. The berm and pond were built in the mid-1900s of timber cribs and soil placed in the river. The DEQ discovered polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and petroleum contamination in the cooling pond and portions of the berm in 2006.

The Stimson cleanup, while proximate to the Milltown Superfund site, is unrelated to the effort.

Read the DEQ press release here and have a look at the proposed order and work plan are here.

In addition, copies of the documents are available at the Missoula City-County Library, the Mansfield Library at U of M, the Bonner School Library, and DEQ's Remediation Division Offices at 1100 North Last Chance Gulch in Helena. Information can also be obtained by calling 1-800-246-8198.

Written comments may either be e-mailed to klarge@mt.gov or mailed to Keith Large, Project Officer, DEQ, P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT, 59620-0901. To be considered, comments must be received by March 31, 2010. The DEQ, DOJ and EPA will make a final decision on the proposed Order after considering all written comments received during the comment period. Under the proposed Work Plan, cleanup would occur between September and November 2010.

"We are starting the eleventh year of the grant program aimed at returning the Basin to a healthy ecosystem," said Kathleen Coleman, Program Specialist for the Natural Resource Damage Program . "This year, $7.5 million is available to fund grant projects approved by the governor."

Grant applications for over $25,000 must be received by Friday, April 9, 2010. Grant applications for $25,000 or less may be submitted on a continuous basis throughout the year. Applicants requesting more than $25,000 must use a long-form application, and there is a short-form application for applicants requesting $25,000 or less.

Government agencies, private entities and individuals may apply for grant funds for projects that will restore or replace the natural resources in the Basin. Grant funds may also be used for developing future grant proposals or for conducting monitoring, research and education activities related to restoration of natural resources in the basin. Only projects that would be located in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin are eligible for funding, subject to limited exceptions.

Applications and guidance materials are available through the Natural Resource Damage Program at (406) 444-0205 or electronically on the Department of Justice website.

The NRDP will not hold a workshop this year, but staff is available to assist grant applicants upon request. Call the NRDP office at 444-0205 for further information.

Once the applications are received, the NRDP will consult with various government agencies and the Upper Clark Fork River Basin Advisory Council to prepare draft funding recommendations. These recommendations will then be considered by the Trustee Restoration Council, which consists of the governor's chief of staff, directors of the state's three natural resource agencies, the attorney general and the chairman of the advisory council. After a public comment period, the Advisory Council and Trustee Restoration Council will make recommendations to the governor, who is expected to make final funding decisions on proposals over $25,000 in December 2010. The Trustee Restoration Council makes final funding decisions on proposals of $25,000 or less.

The restoration projects are funded with interest generated from the $130 million Restoration Fund established by the state in 1999 from settlement of several portions of its lawsuit against ARCO. The suit sought compensation for injuries to the natural resources in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin caused by decades of mining and smelting in the Butte and Anaconda areas by ARCO and its predecessors. To date, about $68 million has been awarded to 90 grant projects that will improve the Basin's fish and wildlife habitat and populations, public recreation opportunities, and public drinking water supplies.

The 2010 Clark Fork Symposium will be held at The University of Montana on Thursday and Friday,  March 4-5.

For 25 years, residents of the Clark Fork Basin have met every five years to discuss conservation science and actions in the basin. This year's symposium events are designed to look back 25 years and think forward 25 years.

Invited speakers and panelists will explain recent and ongoing studies guiding actions planned or taken to conserve and restore the Clark Fork Basin. Posters and slideshows will be offered by watershed groups, scientists and other people interested in the basin.

Events begin Thursday with the Clark Fork Watershed Roundtable, featuring reports by local watershed groups, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on the third floor of the University Center. The roundtable will be followed by a 2 to 5 p.m. field trip to local streamside developments and the Milltown site.

The symposium's keynote "State of the River Report" will take place from 7 to 9 p.m. Thursday in the University Center. The keynote event is free and open to the public. Speakers from UM, the Clark Fork Coalition and other agencies will describe how the basin has been transformed, and author Rick Bass will help those present envision what the basin can become.

The symposium resumes at 8:45 a.m. Friday with a brief welcome and a panel titled "Bringing Back the Upper River." Panelists are representatives of the many agencies and citizen groups working to restore the upper Clark Fork. The panel will be followed by several keynote talks on 30 years of Flathead Lake studies, a 10-year nutrient reduction program recently completed and 25 years of cleaning up Butte soils.

More than 20 posters and displays and more than 30 short talks about studies and actions in the basin will be offered Friday afternoon. Organizers say this is a good time for public school students to visit the symposium.

Registration information and a complete 2010 symposium schedule are online at http://www.clarkfork.org/cfsymposium. All symposium events are free to students.

Proceedings of past symposia are online here. For more information, call UM environmental studies Professor Vicki Watson at 406-243-5153 or email vicki.watson@umontana.edu .

Symposium co-sponsors include the UM President's Office, Watershed Health Clinic, Environmental Studies Program, Department of Geography and the Clark Fork Coalition, Clark Fork Task Force, Bitter Root Water Forum, Rhithron Associates and Watershed Consulting.

DEQ Updates Commissioners on Upper Clark Fork River Cleanup

February 19, 2010

Montana Dept. of Environmental Quality (DEQ) officials met with Powell County Commissioners recently to discuss plans for the Superfund cleanup of the Clark Fork River set to start this summer in Deer Lodge.

The meeting focused on the Trestle Area (pictured above), where railroad trestle bridges cross the river in Deer Lodge, and where the Superfund cleanup of the upper Clark Fork River will start. The area is a priority for cleanup because of heavy foot traffic and its recreational use especially by children.

The cleanup primarily addresses human health exposure to arsenic and other mining contamination that was dispersed along the upper Clark Fork River during the flood of 1908. The contamination level in the Trestle Area is not higher than other river areas but given its use by the community, it was designated as a priority for cleanup in the Environmental Protection Agency's 2004 Record of Decision that outlines the Superfund effort.

At the February 16 meeting, the DEQ presented the commissioners with design plans for the area and discussed timelines for cleanup. Contamination along the river has made streambanks unstable. Under the cleanup plan, the state will remove about 6900 cubic yards of contaminated soil from the site and replace it with clean soil. Streambanks will be stabilized and replanted with native vegetation.

DEQ officials, Joel Chavez and Brian Bartkowiak, say they hope to finish the design, put it out to bid and have construction begun by this summer. The project should be completed by fall of this year.

Once the cleanup is complete, Powell County has plans to develop the area into a park, which will connect to its current trail and park system along the river, Arrowstone Park. It will also lead to a trail system that is being developed by Grant Kohrs Ranch National Park just north of the area.

NRDP Grant Projects Receive Funding

Governor Brian Schweitzer recently signed off on nine out of 12 Natural Resource Damage Program grants proposals.

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In early February, Gov. Schweitzer approved without any modifcation these seven projects:

The Butte Waterline ($2,684,747) in its ninth year will receive to replace 18,152 feet of leaking waterline in Butte.

Big Hole Transmission Line will replace 15,000 feet of the leaking pipe that supplies drinking water to Butte. This is the 3rd year of a continuing waterline replacement project at a cost of $2,666,618

The Anaconda Waterline project ($1,988,478), in its 8th year of funding, will replace 8,800 feet of leaking waterline in Anaconda.

Warm Springs Ponds Recreational Improvements ($82,989) wiil update recreational and sanitary facilities at the Warm Spring Ponds Recreation area.

Moore Acquisition will spend $142,500 to acquire a 30 acre parcel located 7 miles west of Anaconda between the Blue-eye Nellie and Garrity Mountain wildlife management areas in order to protect a wildlife migration corridor and winter range wildlife habitat and to provide public recreational access.

Milltown Bridge Pier and Log Removal will use $262,177 to remove from the Blackfoot and Clark Fork Rivers six abandoned bridge piers, two bridge abutments, and 5000 mill logs that are in the Blackfoot channel.

Milltown/Two Rivers Recreational Facilities and Access ($2,663,749) will provide recreational access opportunities and protect the restored floodplain at and near the confluence of the Clark Fork and Blackfoot rivers through the development of recreational access trails and user facilities, acquisition of 180 acres, and funding of initial operation and maintenance activities for a five year period.

Two other projects were approved with modifications:

Silver Bow Creek Greenway continues its 8th year of work with a $1.5 million (reduced from $2,336,914) grant to plan, design, and install restoration enhancements and recreational access features within the Silver Bow Creek corridor in coordination with remedial work conducted by DEQ in 2010-2012.

Bird's-eye View Education Project will receive $100,000 ( down from $172,946) to develop a two-year program on bird communities associated with riparian ecosystems in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin.

Three applications are still under review:

Peterson Ranch Conservation Easement will receive $334,125 to secure a perpetual conservation easement on the 3,755 acre Peterson Ranch, located southwest of Drummond, in order to protect wildlife habitat, riparian habitat, native grassland vegetation, recreational opportunities, and aquatic resources.

Paracini Pond Acquisition ($1,184,205) contingent on negotiations, would purchase a 272 acre parcel near Racetrack to develop public fishing access to of the Clark Fork River (6000 feet of frontage) and the Paracini Pond. It would also facilitate restoration of the Clark Fork River floodplain.

East Fork Rock Creek ($370,000) will enhance trout populations in the East Fork of River Creek by providing for fish passage at the East Fork Reservoir, which supplies the Flint Creek irrigation canal, through a fish screen/flow regimen they would allow fish to bypass the canal diversion.

Also see the Missoulian for additional coverage.

Click on the image to enlarge.

Excerpted from the Dam News 2010

Milltown Superfund remediation goals were relatively straightforward: remove the dam and sediment and then monitor to see if the aquifer recovers. The end goal for the state's restoration plan is a "naturally functioning channel and floodplain." But what does that really mean?

For the Milltown project, it means that the channel should be appropriate to its setting and connected to its floodplain. Native vegetation should grow along its banks, on its floodplain and in its wetlands. A naturally functioning river should do its job of moving water and sediment effectively, ideally by eroding and depositing sediment in a way that maintains a dynamic equilibrium between the channel and its floodplain. In other words, to make a river"naturally functioning," it's necessary to consider more than just the channel. A river is a three-dimensional ecosystem that includes the channel, the floodplain, and subsurface groundwater. In a naturally functioning river, all of these parts are usually connected.

It's especially important for a natural river to be able to spread onto its floodplain during high flows. Floodplains help moderate the size and speed of floods, thus lessening erosion and decreasing the hazard downstream. By slowing runoff, naturally functioning floodplains allow water to soak in and replenish groundwater below. The shallow water table means that streamside areas offer rich habitat for vegetation and wildlife, and thick vegetation near the stream helps filter out contaminants that would otherwise flow into the water. Together, the channel, floodplain, and groundwater trade water, sediment, and nutrients in a way that supports the web of life, whether it's westslope cutthroat trout in the channel, blue herons on the banks, or groves of cottonwood trees on the floodplain.

The features incorporated into the Milltown restoration plan - such as diverse native plant communities, side channels, and off-channel wetlands - mimic those found in a natural river system, but getting back to a truly natural condition will take some time because the Milltown project has unique constraints. Although the worst of the contam-inated sediments are being removed, there is no way to scrub all the metal from the Clark Fork; indeed, the river is affected by its mining legacy for more than 100 miles upstream.

To maintain water quality in the short-term, restoration designers are building a channel with temporary bank stabilization structures that will help control excessive erosion and vertical channel scour while native vegetation has a chance to become established on the floodplain. The newly constructed river is designed to transport sediment naturally through the site by eroding and depositing sediment within the channel boundaries, but initially, at least, the river won't erode sediment from the floodplain. And since they are starting with a blank slate in thereservoir area, the restoration designers want to ensure that a large or even moderate flood will not blow out their initial efforts to shape and align the river channel.

Given these constraints, restoration planners have different expectations for the short and long term. For the first decade or two, structures built of natural wood and rock will control the shape and location of the river channel, limiting excessive erosion and allowing vegetation to take hold on the river's banks and flood-plain. The wood structures - root wads and logs - are patterned after natural woody debris that's found in the Clark Fork upstream of the project area.

Over time, plants such as willows and cottonwoods will become well-established, providing deep roots to knit the river's banks together, branches and leaves to slow flood flows, and critical wildlife habitat. Eventually, the wood structures will decompose, erode away, or become buried, and the river will once again be allowed to meander naturally across its floodplain. It may take some time, but the restoration plan helps set the trajectory for a truly natural river in the future.

Check out more of the Dam News 2010.

Excerpted from the Dam News 2010

Why restore it?
What are the goals of Milltown restoration?
How will it be done?
Will native plants come back? What about wildlife?
How long will the project take?
Who's paying for it?
Who's doing the work?
How will we know if it's successful?
What's next?

011710:175:123

Why restore it? The Clark Fork River may not be dammed any more, but it's temporarily straight-jacketed within the bypass channel. After removal of all the reservoir sediment, there's no longer any channel for the Clark Fork, so rather than simply turning the river loose across the construction site, the State of Montana will create a natural channel and floodplain.

What are the goals of Milltown restoration?

• Maintain water quality
• Create a channel appropriate for the valley setting that transports sediment and is connected to its floodplain
• Provide habitat for fish and wildlife
• Establish functional wetlands and riparian (streamside) plant communities
• Provide visual and aesthetic values consistent with a natural condition
• Offer safe recreational opportunities compatible with the above goals

How will it be done? An entirely new channel and floodplain will be created from scratch in the former reservoir area (CFR 2). Then, just upstream from this (CFR 3A), a wedge of sediment will be excavated and removed in order to create a consistent channel and floodplain slope from upstream to downstream as the river flows into the former reservoir area. Further upstream (CFR 3B), additional channel work will temporarily stabilize the Clark Fork so that it feeds smoothly into the newly constructed floodplain downstream. All in all, restoration work extends more than a mile above the reservoir area.

Will native plants come back? What about wildlife? Native plants are a key element in the restoration effort, and they are in fact what will hold much of the project together. Some natural re-growth is already occurring. In the former reservoir area, where the stumps of old trees that date back to the early 1800s were uncovered, an interesting and somewhat unusual assemblage of native vegetation has sprouted. Botanists think that some of these plants may be growing from native seed that's been buried for 100 years under the reservoir sediment. Since these areas are already doing well, they've been fenced off and allowed to recover on their own. Most of the site, however, will be revegetated according to a carefully designed plan.

The revegetation plan calls for a wide variety of native plants, located appropriately for each of the site's land-forms. For example, upland species such as Ponderosa pine will be planted on the terraces, while sedges and cattails will find homes in the wetland swales, and willows will sprout from the river's banks. Some of the plants used for this effort have been salvaged from on-site construction areas, some are being grown in a nursery, and some will be grown from seed. In 2009, more than 5,000 plants and 25,000 willow cuttings were planted throughout the restoration area. To help ensure success of the native plantings, an aggressive weed control program has already begun and will continue after project construction completion.

Once native vegetation is established, it shouldn't be long before wildlife returns to the newly created habitat. Deer are already attracted to the new vegetation, beavers are busy in nearby side channels, and birds are starting to reclaim their old territory. And, of course, trout have been moving up the Clark Fork River since dam removal in 2008.

How long will the project take? Channel and floodplain construction along the Clark Fork River should be completed by 2011. Sometime in early or mid-2011 the Clark Fork will be routed out of the bypass channel and into its new channel through the former reservoir area. After that, the bypass channel will be demolished and backfilled. Native vegetation will be planted and weed control will continue throughout this period. Most project work should be finished by 2012, although weed control and monitoring will extend beyond that.

Who's paying for it? The work is funded by the Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP) through the proceeds of a lawsuit that the State of Montana filed against the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) in 1983. From these funds, $11.5 million dollars have been set aside for restoration, along with an additional $2.8 million from a grant for extra sediment removal.

Who's doing the work? The restoration is planned and managed by the State's Natural Resource Damage Program. NRDP has contracted with three Montana firms to design the project. River Design Group of Whitefish and WestWater Consultants of Corvallis have collaborated on the channel design while Geum Environmental Consulting of Hamilton has produced the revegetation plan. Envirocon, which has just finished the remediation work, won the construction contract to carry out the channel and floodplain construction in CFR 3B. The NRDP will bid out at least three more contracts to complete the restoration of the Clark Fork River channel and floodplain.

How will we know if it's successful? River restoration is an emerging science, and figuring out whether a project is successful requires well-defined goals, performance criteria, and a comprehensive monitoring program. The Milltown project incorporates all of these. The monitoring program will include measurements of water quality, river channel form, sediment transport, fish habitat features, number of trout, and the diversity and number of birds and fur-bearing mammals. Monitoring will also keep track of the functional wetland area, wetland vegetation, and depth to groundwater. Vegetation will be surveyed by measuring floodplain cover types, canopy cover, and the ecological succession of plant communities as vegetation matures. The restoration designers will evaluate the monitoring data each year to see if changes should be made as time goes on in order to achieve both the short and long-term goals of the project. For example, if the constructed wood and rock structures in the river channel were preventing the river from migrating naturally after floodplain vegetation is well-established, the restoration designers may elect to remove or demolish them.

What's next? Overlapping the restoration work is a redevelopment plan focused on turning the Superfund site into a state park. Those efforts are well underway and will be highlighted in the next, and final, edition of the Dam News in 2010.

Read more in the Dam News 2010.