Warm Springs Ponds Technical Support
Trihydro provides technical support, including geochemical analyses, hydrological and geochemical modeling, data management, and risk assessments, to inform the management of Warm Springs Ponds, a site with three settling ponds that serve as an active treatment system for contamination from the area’s historic mining.
Silver Bow Creek, a 26-mile stream originating near Butte, Montana, has a legacy of historic mining. Since the late 1800s, mining operations in and around Butte have deposited waste materials near the creek and surrounding areas. Smelters and mills releasing airborne emissions containing arsenic and heavy metals further contributed to environmental contamination. These practices resulted in the presence of heavy metals in the soil, groundwater, and surface water.
In 1982, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed adding Silver Bow Creek to the National Priorities List (NPL) due to the identified contamination. The designation was finalized in 1983. The Butte Area was subsequently added to the Silver Bow Creek Superfund site in 1987.
The Warm Springs Ponds area is at the lower end of Silver Bow Creek. Three settling ponds were built in the 2,600-acre site to settle and remove contaminated sediments and mine tailings carried down Silver Bow Creek from mining operations in Butte. To this day, the ponds remove metals from Silver Bow Creek before discharging into the headwaters of the Clark Fork River. They also act as prime habitat for waterfowl and mammals. Millions of cubic yards of historic sediment remain in the ponds.
Trihydro’s predecessor, Alloy Group’s Engineering and Consulting Division (acquired in 2024), was contracted by the client to provide technical support for the Warm Springs Pond Operable Unit 4. The unit includes a lime addition/precipitation water treatment system and a dam facility that actively treats the flow of Silver Bow Creek prior to its confluence with Warm Springs Creek, which forms the start of the Clark Fork River. An interim remedial action plan for the site was created in the 1990s under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. The client’s goal is to work with the EPA to arrive at a final plan for the site’s future management.
Trihydro assists with agency communications and developing strategies on numerous issues, including water treatment optimization, compliance requirements, and site operations. Additionally, our team collects samples, leads analyses of sediment and porewater, reviews data from surface and groundwater, and interprets trends. We use laboratory results, microscopy, microanalysis, and modeling software to assess the current conditions and potential impacts of changes on and upstream of the site. This information guides the identification of data gaps, the development of a Conceptual Site Model, and the future management of the ponds.
Past responsibilities also included managing dam safety monitoring activities, developing a water treatment operational approach and system troubleshooting, monitoring real-time data to identify treatment system upsets, and managing the construction of a dam breach monitoring and alarm system.
