"Industrial waste from a mill is leaching into the groundwater and polluting the Clark Fork River. A major flood could cause an even bigger catastrophe."

"The Place: The Smurfit-Stone pulp mill site along the Clark Fork River in Montana was shuttered in 2010 but still poses an environmental threat.

Why it matters: The Clark Fork River — situated in western Montana in the heart of the ancestral homelands of the Salish, Kalispel, and Ksanka peoples — is an important part of the history of the region, as well as the present and future for all who live here.

Protect This Place: Rising out of the Continental Divide and flowing through a 14-million-acre basin, the river is a rich habitat for bountiful fish and wildlife, a magnet for recreation, an economic driver for our riverside communities, and an agricultural resource."

Sam Dwyer reports for The Revelator July 7, 2023. [2]