In consultation with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), the Hard Rock Division of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) is remediating contamination from silver and lead mining at the Black Pine Mine site near Phillipsburg, Montana. The U.S. Department of the Interior (USDOI) will address the natural resource damages with trust funds.
The Montana Environmental Custodial Trust’s (Custodial Trust) role at Black Pine is limited to managing the Black Pine cleanup and natural resource damage funds and providing contract and administrative support to MDEQ.
The mine-scarred lands contain 400,000 tons of metals-impacted wastes, including mining rock, tailings, soils, and sediments. Funds for cleanup and restoration of natural resource damages total $18 million for the Black Pine Mine.