The Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP) was created in 1990 to prepare the state’s lawsuit against the Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) for injuries to the natural resources in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin (UCFRB).
Our location and divisional contacts.
In 1983, the State of Montana filed a lawsuit against the Atlantic Richfield Co. (ARCO) for injuries to the natural resources in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin. The lawsuit, brought under federal and state Superfund laws, sought damages from ARCO, contending that decades of mining and smelting in the Butte and Anaconda areas had greatly harmed natural resources in the basin and deprived Montanans of their use...
2020 NRDP Conference
2015 NRDP Conference
2012 NRDP Conference
Clark Fork Sites
In December 2011, Governor Schweitzer approved a Final Upper Clark Fork River Basin Long Range Priorities and Fund Allocation Guidance Plan that allocated about $110 million in natural resource damage settlement funds for the restoration of groundwater, aquatic, and terrestrial resources in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin (UCFRB).
Butte Area One
The 2008 Montana v. ARCO Consent Decree allocated $28.1 million (M), plus interest, to restore, replace or acquire the equivalent of the injured groundwater and surface water of Butte Area One.
Silver Bow Creek
The cleanup of the Silver Bow Creek Superfund site near Butte is one of the largest stream and floodplain remediation and restoration projects undertaken in the United States...
From the 1880s to 1980, large volumes of hazardous substances were released into the air by the Anaconda Smelter. These emissions were deposited onto the land, resulting in severe loss of vegetation...
Other Clark Fork
Clark Fork River
Yellowstone Oil Spills
Yellowstone River Oil Spill
On January 17, 2015, a pipeline owned by Bridger Pipeline LLC released crude oil into the ice-covered Yellowstone River...
Yellowstone River Oil Spill (July 2011)
On July 1, 2011, a 12-inch diameter pipeline owned by the ExxonMobil Pipeline Company ruptured near Laurel, Montana, resulting in the discharge of approximately 63,000 gallons of crude oil...
Under the terms of the settlement (involving among others, EPA and the State of Montana) was approved in December 2009 by the Court in the ASARCO bankruptcy case, as part of the plan of reorganization, ASARCO paid the following amounts...
In April 2008, state and federal officials announced a $37 million settlement of litigation with Atlantic Richfield Co. and ASARCO LLC to remove the aging Mike Horse Dam and the contaminated tailings behind it, and to clean up and restore the Upper Blackfoot River and Mining Complex...
Updates on the Smurfit-Stone/Frenchtown Mill Site
Notices of Public Comment
View notices of public comments.
IFB / RFP
Invitations for Bids
View a list of IFB's - All invitations for bids (IFBs) issued by the Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP) for construction and materials are listed in the following table.
Announcement of UCFRB / BNRC / TRC / Yellowstone River Recreation Project Advisory Council meetings
UCFRB Advisory Council
In 1998, Governor Marc Racicot established the UCFRB Remediation and Restoration Advisory Council. The Council’s mission is to...
Butte Natural Resource Council
The Butte Natural Resource Damage Restoration Council (BNRC) will provide recommendations to the Governor on how to spend the 28 million dedicated to restoration of the Butte Area One Site through the 2008 Consent Decree. For more information on Butte Area One site, click here.
Trustee Restoration Council
In 2000, the Governor created the Upper Clark Fork River Basin Trustee Restoration Council (TRC). The TRC consists of the Governor’s Chief of Staff (Chair), the Attorney General, the Chairman of the UCFRB Remediation and Restoration Advisory Council and the directors of the States’ three natural resource agencies (Department of Environmental Quality, Department of Natural Resources and Conservation, and Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks).