The Active Mine Next Door:
Butte Neighborhood Demands Answers
by Derf Johnson
M
ore than anything, Butte is known for mining. It’s so deeply ingrained in the identity of Butte that the two are effectively synonyms. Mining is not just the legacy of the city’s past but is also its present and likely future. What many people don’t know is that Butte also has a currently operating mining company. Montana Resources extracts molybdenum and copper in the Continental Pit, an open pit east of Uptown, and plans to continue operations for the foreseeable future. Due to geohistorical development and historic underground mining (requiring a large workforce), Butte is located adjacent to both historical and currently active mine areas. This is especially true in the Greeley Neighborhood, just south of the Berkeley Pit and literally right across the street from the active Montana Resources mine. As you can imagine, having your home or business across the street from a very large hardrock mining operation can have serious negative consequences. In particular, Greeley community members have protested the large amount of dust coming from the mine site for years. The dust is kicked up by massive haul trucks; the crusher processing the unrefined ore;
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Montana Environmental Information Center
Dust from a blast at Montana Resources’ open-pit mine in 2018. Photo by Megan Thompson.
the large surface area of exposed, barren land; and current and historic mining waste being managed at the nearby Yankee Doodle Tailings Pond. A few years ago, Montana Resources and the Butte Silver-Bow (BSB) local government took a step toward evaluating the issue by conducting an air quality analysis of potential impacts. The results of the Montana Resources/BSB air quality study, released publicly in May 2021, concluded that the air was safe. However, on closer review, the methodology that led to the results raised more questions than answers. Due to concerns, the Greeley Neighborhood Community Development Corporation and MEIC retained an air quality expert, Dr. Ron Sahu, to provide a critical, independent eye and evaluate the conclusions of the study and the assumptions that went into the analysis. On May 17, 2022, Dr. Sahu presented his analysis and professional critique to the BSB Health Study Advisory Committee. Dr. Sahu identified a number of shortcomings and faulty assumptions with the research. He ultimately concluded that the air quality analysis results could not determine whether the
