Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
As in many Western states, the environment is a controversial topic in Montana and Wyom-
ing. While both states are on the conservative side politically, many of the people who have
moved here in the past two decades have a decidedly more liberal political view, particu-
larly when it comes to land, air, and water issues.
The effects of irresponsible hard-rock mining operations can be found throughout
Montana, marked by a scarred landscape and contaminated water. The mile-wide Berkeley
Pit, a former open-pit copper mine in Butte, is one of the country's largest Superfund sites.
Since it closed in 1982, contaminated water has been filling the pit, which could eventually
contaminate the entire Clark Fork River basin. In 1998, voters in Montana approved a law
that phased out the process of cyanide leaching in open-pit mines, although mining com-
panies are trying to get the decision reversed. Twelve of the 17 Superfund sites in Montana
are related to mining operations.
One of the most tragic reminders of the mining industry's legacy is the situation of the
northwest Montana town of Libby, where a former vermiculite mine was found to have
poisoned the town's residents with a rare form of asbestos that was present in the mining
dust. Many miners and townspeople have died from asbestos-related cancers, and nearly 20
percent of those residents tested for asbestos were found to have abnormal lung function.
There was local and national outrage when the news was made public in 2000 that the W. R.
Grace Company, which owned the mine, knew all along that the asbestos was sickening
workers and their families, and yet said nothing. The company has since filed for bank-
ruptcy, blaming the large number of personal-injury lawsuits, and an emergency cleanup
of the town is being managed by the Environmental Protection Agency. Two documentary
films have been made, and several books have been written about the case and the tragic
events surrounding the town.
Air quality in Montana is another concern, in particular emissions from coal-fired power
plants and tire burning at a cement plant near Three Forks. Proponents of banning snow-
mobiles in Yellowstone National Park have succeeded in lowering the number of machines
allowed to enter, as well as requiring all snowmobiles to be the cleaner four-stroke variety.
This has divided towns where the winter economy has traditionally relied on the snowmo-
bile tourism industry. Global warming has also affected Glacier National Park, as the num-
ber of glaciers larger than 25 acres has decreased from 150 in 1850 to 25 in 2010—and
