BUTTE — Last month, officials in Butte celebrated the completion of the Parrot Tailings cleanup—a major milestone in Butte’s Superfund history—and on Monday, Oct. 2, 2023, the city reopened Civic Center Road, granting more access to the facilities that host major community events.
"Well, it had a huge impact on us because we lost a lot of our parking," says Bill Melvin, general manager of Butte Civic Center.
The Parrot Tailings remediation project that began in 2018 removed 1.9 million cubic yards of toxic dirt from the area behind the Civic Center, and it also blocked access to an alternative route into and out of the facility.
"So now we’re better off than we were before because we have more parking and a brand-new road," says Melvin.
Remediation of the Parrot Tailings, the century-old mine waste from a smelting facility that once operated at the spot, began five years ago after decades of squabbling between the EPA, Atlantic Richfield Company, and city and state officials until former Montana Governor Steve Bullock got the ball rolling on the cleanup with the help of the state’s Natural Resource Damage Program.
Montana Resources and Butte-Silver Bow County also contributed to the remediation that moved the county shops to Beef Trail Road while the Civic Center access road was lost to the abyss of cleanup for a time until it reopened on Monday.
"The road is all striped, it has parking, it’s safe. Yeah, it’s a great improvement for us and it’s been a long time coming but we’re very happy to have it now," says Melvin.
The new road and parking come just in time for the community events like a high school state volleyball tournament, concerts, and even a roller derby bout taking place on Oct. 7.
