The Carpenter Snow Creek Mining District Superfund Site lies in the Little Belt Mountains of southern Cascade County, Montana. The site encompasses approximately 9,000 acres with mine tailings, waste rock and min-influenced waters present throughout the site due to the many inactive and abandoned mines. The State of Montana's Abandoned Mine Bureau identified, inventoried and sampled these inactive mines in the Carpenter-Snow Creek area in the early 1990s. Sampling showed the presence of a variety of metals in the area surface water and soils that are found in concentrations known to produce risk to human health and the environment.
An Action Memorandum was issued in June 2013 for the Carpenter Creek and Silver Dyke tailings impoundments within OU3.
The US Forest Service completed a portion of the removal action in 2013. The removal action included interim response actions at the Silver Dyke tailings and upper and lower Carpenter Creek tailings impoundments to stabilize these tailings until a permanent remedial action is taken.
The second phase of the action was started in August 2014. The removal is expected to involve removing 35,000 cubic yards of tailings now eroding into Carpenter Creek, and placing the tailings in an onsite repository.
Further information and site related documents can be found at: http://www2.epa.gov/region8/carpenter-snow-creek-mining-district
