Editorial: New era in cleanup commendable - Montana Environmental Trust Group

By Independent Record – An IR View | Posted: Tuesday, November 23, 2010

One look at year-over-year maps showing the underground arsenic and selenium plumes emanating from the old Asarco site in East Helena are enough to give residents, let alone environmental officials in charge of the cleanup, a great deal of pause.

Individual maps dating back a few years show “fingered” plumes reaching out toward the valley like a hand from the Asarco site. Stacked together, the maps collectively make it look like the elevated levels of arsenic and selenium are expanding, and quickly.

But looks can be deceiving, and the truth is as opaque as the big pile of black slag sitting there at the site of the former lead smelter.