Butte’s Berkeley Pit Voted Worst Vacation Spot in Montana by Bird Community

By Justin Ringsak, New West Unfiltered 11-30-07

Imagine for a moment that you are a bird flying about on a cold winter day in Montana, soaring around the mountains of Continental Divide. A storm rolls in, bringing fog, snow, and cold. Flying isn’t much fun anymore. You look for a hospitable spot to land and ride it out. Hey, what’s that down there? A big, open body of water? It must be a lake. And it’s not even frozen. Could be a good spot to rest, maybe get some food. So you cruise on down and, tired and cold, take a refreshing drink. But something is amiss, you realize as the acidic water eats at the lining of your esophagus and moves into your internal organs.
Shortly thereafter, you’re dead.

That’s what happened to 37 waterfowl who made the unfortunate decision to land in Butte’s Berkeley Pit last weekend, resulting in the largest single instance of avian mortality since 342 snow geese succumbed to the acidic water here in November 1995. Employees of Montana Resources, the company that operates the nearby Continental Pit copper and molybdenum mining operation and oversees the abandoned Berkeley, found the 37 birds floating dead on the pit surface after last weekend’s fog dissipated. It is difficult to lay blame for the bird deaths. Since the snow geese deaths in 1995, Montana Resources has put some substantial effort into shooing birds away from the Pit, including noisemaker installations designed to scare birds off and regular bird monitoring at the site by company employees.

If the fallout from this event follows the pattern of the 1995 incident, then it’s a truly sad day for the Butte community. The account of the snow geese deaths has been repeated ad infinitum since, mentioned in virtually every regional or national news story remotely related to the Berkeley Pit, and often popping up in general, non-Pit-related stories about Butte. And that is too bad, because, while the bird deaths are certainly not insignificant and there are certainly many unresolved issues around the Berkeley, they are only a part of the ongoing Butte story, a story that revolves around mining and the environment.

The history of Butte is full of environmental tragedy, but the future of Butte, if we look at the whole picture, is bright, despite the sad fate of the birds. Silver Bow Creek, used and abused for nearly 100 years as a tailings discharge channel for the mines, is being restored. The creek run from Butte to Ramsay has already been restored, and, ecologically and visually, it is being reborn. The floodplain, formerly a wasteland of compacted tailings, now hosts ample vegetation, and has become excellent habitat for some of our more fortunate winged friends. Efforts to restore the Butte hill continue to progress. It is important to recall these positives when faced with another lingering reminder of past mistakes, because Butte is much more than a graveyard for birds and the ghosts of mining. It is a symbol of a changing cultural attitude that recognizes the consequences of progress and development and accepts responsibility for its effects on the environment.

Let us have a moment of silence for the 17 snow geese, 10 mallard ducks, nine goldeneye ducks and one swan whose deaths are the most recent unintended consequence of copper mining on the Richest Hill on Earth. And next time you flick on a light, take a minute to consider that the electricity coming down those copper wires comes with costs that go well beyond your utility bill.

More Information:
The Montana Standard article on this week’s bird deaths: http://www.mtstandard.com/articles/2007/11/30/butte_top/20071130_butte_top.txt [End of article]