The Rumsey Mill Site is within the Fred Burr Creek watershed within the Philipsburg Mining District (PMD). PMD is in Granite County east of Philipsburg, Montana. The former mill site lies in the northeast quarter of Section 8 in Township 6 North, Range 13 West, 3.5 miles east of the intersection with Montana Highway 1, or approximately 6 miles southeast of Philipsburg, Montana, the population center and county seat of Granite County.
EPA's Site Assessment program performed an expanded site inspection (ESI) in 2021, identifying elevated levels of arsenic, lead, and mercury at the former mill site as well as in tailings material that had been deposited downstream. It also identified degraded water quality in Fred Burr Creek as it passes the former mill property. Based on this report, EPA's Removal program is conducting further assessment to evaluate both the need for a removal action as well as what that action might entail.
