Draft Restoration Plan Released for Black Pine Mine & Flat Creek/Iron Mountain Mine and Mill Superfund Site, MT

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) is seeking public comment on a Draft Restoration Plan to address injuries associated with releases of hazardous substances during historic American Smelting and Refining Company mining and milling operations from the Black Pine Mine in Granite County, Montana, and the Flat Creek/Iron Mountain Mine and Mill Superfund Site in Mineral County, Montana. Natural resources including surface water, sediments, fish, migratory birds, and riparian habitats were exposed to and injured by those releases. 

The Upper Ninemile Placer Mine Reclamation and Restoration Project, which would complete the seventh and final phase of reclamation and restoration along the mainstem of Ninemile Creek, is the preferred alternative because it directly restores on-site habitat and builds on successful upstream restoration work. This project would remove and regrade approximately 58,000 cubic yards of remnant floodplain material, construct approximately 2,500 feet of new stream channel, and establish about 15 acres of floodplain and wetland habitat.

The Draft Restoration Plan is available for a 30-day public comment period, from March 19, 2026 through April 18, 2026 at https://www.cerc.usgs.gov/orda_docs/CaseDetails?ID=1069. Physical copies can be made available for review at the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Montana Ecological Services Field Office in Helena.

Comments may be submitted by writing or emailing:

Brian Balmer
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
585 Shephard Way, Suite 1
Helena, MT 59601
(406) 437-2077
Brian_Balmer@fws.gov

The Service will review and consider all comments received during the public comment period in developing the Final Restoration Plan.