BUTTE The Restore Our Creek Coalition in Butte wants more than just a century’s worth of mine waste removed from town.
“We want an area to have amenities and things that people can really enjoy in the center of town and we want a creek restored,” said Northey Tretheway of the coalition.
Before the EPA, Butte and the state sign off on the nearly completed consent decree, the coalition wants them to wait until December for a feasibility study on the creek to be complete. This study will show what it takes to completely restore the first mile of Silver Bow Creek with running water and a greenway.
“Decisions that are being made in the very near future are going to be decisions the result of which will last with this community forever, and so we’re saying, ‘don’t rush now,’” said Tretheway.
The Restore Our Creek Coalition wants the first mile of Silver Bow Creek to be a healthy creek again, which they believe will be healthy for the future of Butte.
“People drive by here when they come off the highway going Uptown to the events and everything else and we want this part of town to look nice and we want it to be something that represents a future for Butte,” he said.
Tretheway will ask the Bute Council of Commissioners at its regular meeting Wednesday to not sign the consent decree until the study is completed.
