In a battle for truth in a small Montana mining town, newly revealed records show how the EPA sided with polluters.
by Wilson Criscione, InvestigateWest
As she drove into Butte, Montana, six years ago to visit her son, environmental epidemiologist Suzanne McDermott couldn’t ignore the gouged-out mountain that loomed over the town.
It’s the result of decades of open-pit mining that continues to this day in Butte. McDermott was stunned at how close the mining pits were to homes and businesses. In town, she noticed parked cars with a film of dust that looked as if ash had fallen from a fire. Her son, who worked for the local newspaper, later told her of children who had developed mysterious ailments in Butte.

“It just struck me that there’s something very unhealthy going on here,” said McDermott, a professor at City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy.
Butte, a once-booming city, is home to a massive Superfund site overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency. Past mining has polluted the soil and water in and around Butte, and when Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) abandoned the mine in 1982, it left a pit that’s since filled with water so toxic that it kills flocks of birds that land on it.
Recent Posts
Politicians Are Betraying Gen Z On Climate
July 10, 2025
Take Action Now While Gen-Zers thrift, knit, crochet, and find other ways to reduce our footprints, Trump and the GOP are greenlighting more climate…
Trump’s Deportation Threat Against Zohran Mamdani Is Shameful
July 10, 2025
Take Action Now In only half a year of Donald Trump’s presidency, he and his allies have turned deportation into an explicitly political threat…
Teachers Union Votes To Cut Ties To The Anti-Defamation League
July 10, 2025
Take Action Now In a momentous vote, the National Education Association voted to cut all ties with the Anti-Defamation League. The reason? “Despite…
2025 War Abolisher Awards Go To Albanese, Nader, Waters
July 9, 2025
Take Action Now The purpose of the awards is to honor and encourage support for those working to abolish the institution of war itself.By World…