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NPL Site Narrative for Montana Pole and Treating
MONTANA POLE & TREATING
Butte, Montana
Federal Register Notice: July 22, 1987Conditions at proposal (June 10, 1986): Montana Pole & Treating owned and operated a 40-acre site in Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana, during 1947-83. The plant preserved utility poles, posts, and bridge timbers with a solution of 5 percent pentachlorophenol (PCP) in petroleum.
Ground water and soils on the site are highly contaminated with PCP and other highly toxic compounds, including dioxin, according to tests conducted by both the Montana Department of Health and Environmental Services and EPA. The State has also detected PCP off-site in Silver Bow Creek, a part of the Silver Bow Creek/Butte Area Site, which was placed on the NPL in September 1983.
About 300 people obtain drinking water from private wells within 3 miles of the site. The nearest well is about 0.2 mile away. About 200 acres of land are irrigated by wells within 3 miles of the site.
In July 1985, using CERCLA emergency funds, EPA started measures to collect oil containing PCP that was being released to ground water and subsequently was discharging into Silver Bow Creek. As part of the removal action, oil is being pumped out of ground water, and most old processing equipment and storage tanks have been disassembled and stored in a building on the site.
Status (July 22, 1987): As part of the removal, EPA bagged contaminated soil and is storing it in newly constructed warehouses on the site. Minor amounts of oil are still occasionally seeping into Silver Bow Creek. In 1986, 9,000 gallons of oil collected by pumping were chemically treated in a mobile unit to destroy the dioxin. The unit is expected to return later in 1987 to treat additional oil.
For more information about the hazardous substances identified in this narrative summary, including general information regarding the effects of exposure to these substances on human health, please see the Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) ToxFAQs. ATSDR ToxFAQs can be found on the Internet at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaq.html or by telephone at 1-888-42-ATSDR or 1-888-422-8737.