ANACONDA, Mont. (AP) - The Atlantic Richfield Co. is asking property owners within a Montana Superfund site for access to clean up mining waste and to give up their right to sue for any future cleanup in exchange for $1,000.
The contracts are apparently going to people whose property is contaminated by decades of smoke from the Anaconda copper smelter, which operated until 1980.
The EPA designated the area a Superfund site in 1983 due to the risk to human health. The major concern was arsenic in the soil and water.
BP-owned Arco is beginning a three- to four-year project to clean up yards in Anaconda, said Brett Clanton, Houston-based spokesman for Arco. He declined to comment on the letters.
Attorneys from a Bozeman law firm plan a meeting in Anaconda on Wednesday evening to discuss concerns about the contract, The Montana Standard (https://bit.ly/2ogMeu9) reported.
Signing the access contract as it is written could affect the properties’ titles because the agreement not to sue would be binding on future owners of the property, attorney Monte Beck said.
Arco is seeking an insurance policy against future lawsuits because nearly 100 residents in nearby Opportunity are suing to force arsenic cleanup in areas that don’t qualify for cleanup under EPA standards, said attorney Justin Stalpes, who along with Beck is representing the Opportunity residents.
“They’re dangling $1,000 in front of people, hoping these poor people will take it,” Beck said. “There’s not a lot of money in Anaconda.”
___
Information from: The Montana Standard, https://www.mtstandard.com
Please read our comment policy before commenting.