BUTTE — Recently, thousands of citizens and some Butte businesses went without water after the state issued a "Do Not Consume" order due to possible contamination between mine water and municipal water.
Meagan Thompson reports - watch:
Now, some Butte residents are asking what this kind of crisis might do to Butte's future economy.
"We need to know that we're safe, and business needs to know that it's safe to invest in Montana," says Erik Nyland. "I mean, it doesn't matter what industry you're in, but if you don't have a functional government protecting people -- putting side-boards on things, who would invest?"
Nyland is a member of a social and environmental justice group that formed last year. The group has been calling for a thorough cleanup of heavy metals in the Mining City.
After the mine took responsibility for the possible water contamination, Nyland is asking why state regulators didn't prevent the issue in the first place.
"It's the state's responsibility— Montana DEQ—to make sure that our drinking water is safe and make sure that things like backflow-preventors are installed, and clearly they weren't, and now Montana Resources is installing one, but where has the government been to protect us?"
I recently asked the DEQ a series of questions related to this topic and a spokesperson for the state agency declined to comment.
Here are the questions I asked to Montana Department of Environmental Quality director Sonja Nowakowski.
- What year was the cross-connection prevention bypassed, and was the bypass permitted?
- Was the cross-connection protection inspected in any annual inspections by DEQ at Montana Resources? Or is that part of mine permitting?
- With repeated issues reported of unlicensed operators and pesticide applications in Butte, have there been any formal sanctions issued to Butte-Silver Bow in the last two years?
- Would you be able to meet with me for an interview?"
A Montana DEQ spokesperson declined to comment on any of the questions with the following response: "We appreciate you reaching out to DEQ with your questions. After discussing the questions with our team, we have determined that most of the questions do not pertain to DEQ's authority. We recommend reaching out directly to Butte-Silver Bow."
WATCH - Governor questioned by residents:
After remaining silent about the water crisis that lasted for two weeks, Governor Greg Gianforte appeared in Butte for a tour of an advanced manufacturing business.
I asked Governor Gianforte if he could shed some light on why the DEQ was not more instrumental in preventing the water crisis.
"I'm proud of the work at DEQ did in responding as quickly as they did to identify the problem. To issue a "Do Not Consume" order and to make sure people were safe," replied Gianforte.
Montana Resources is currently installing a one-way valve to prevent mine water from flowing into municipal water but Erik Nylund wants to see more being done by state regulators when it comes to protecting the citizens of Butte.
"You know, Montana Resources had a problem on their property that shouldn't have happened, and they'll deal with it. But it never should have got off their property, and that's where government should've came in. We should be wondering where else is this happening?"
