The Anaconda Smoke Stack towered over Black Eagle for decades and was once an iconic symbol of the area but today its left a toxic legacy. Now government officials must figure out how to clean up the contaminated area around the old metal refinery and if they will designate the area an EPA Superfund site.

Gwen Christiansen, an environmental scientist with the EPA said, "The area itself is contaminated with heavy metals as well as the river and residential areas.”

Seventy local properties were tested by the EPA and nearly half showed alarming levels of metals like lead and arsenic. Christiansen said the EPA isn’t concerned about immediate health risks but is worried about the long term. Health risks could include damage to the nervous system from lead or cancer from arsenic.

For former resident Sue Dickinson, the risk is a reality. At a meeting tonight at Superfund designation she said, “I lived in Black Eagle in the 60s when the Smelter was still operating. Of the neighbors I stayed in touch with the majority got cancer.”

She's pushing for the federal Superfund designation. That designation would bring more funding than what the state could provide. The EPA is looking for everyone's input before they make a decision. Send letters to:

RICHARD OPPER, DIRECTOR
DEQ
P.O. BOX 200901
HELENA, MT
59620-0901

All letters should be received by mid-August.