"The parties to Anaconda's Superfund cleanup have reached an agreement in principle, the Environmental Protection Agency announced Sunday.
The agreement is the first step toward getting a signed consent decree, the legal document that will carve into stone the final steps of the Smelter City's cleanup. Doug Benevento, EPA Region 8 administrator, had said previously that he intends for Anaconda to have a consent decree with the ink dry by the end of the year.
The EPA, the Atlantic Richfield Company, the state of Montana, and Anaconda-Deer Lodge County were locked in closed-door negotiations last week. The EPA had given Anaconda until Tuesday to reach an agreement in principle over the Smelter City’s Superfund cleanup — threatening to impose a unilateral cleanup order if the negotiations were unsuccessful. The Anaconda cleanup, like Butte's, has been ongoing for 35 years. The agreement was reached Saturday."
Susan Dunlap reports for the Montana Standard July 29, 2018.
