By Wilson Criscione, InvestigateWest
Photo via Erick Doxey / InvestigateWest
Following revelations about the Environmental Protection Agency’s cozy relationship with a mining company in Butte, the EPA this week announced a series of steps meant to “increase transparency” and engagement with the local community.
Those steps include more frequent public meetings, evaluation of public health data to “identify potential gaps” and hiring a community involvement coordinator to work in Montana.
Meanwhile, Montana Resources, operator of the active copper and molybdenum mine in Butte, said last week that it would fund research on health impacts from the mine’s dust.
The announcements come in response to an InvestigateWest story published last month that uncovered how the EPA coordinated with Montana Resources to rebut independent, peer-reviewed research that suggested the mine may be causing a “potential public health emergency.”
