Toxic Water In Open Pit Blamed For Goose Deaths

Atlantic Richfield Co. is taking a closer look at possible links between the contaminated water of the Berkeley Pit and the deaths of about 340 snow geese last month, a company official said.

A state lawyer blames the pit’s water for the deaths.

Tests have not ruled out the possibility that pesticides or the acidic water from the pit in Butte were responsible, said Sandy Stash, Montana facilities manager for Arco. The latest tests results examined by the company show the birds did not die of a disease such as botulism or cholera, she said.

A lawyer for the state has pointed to the Berkeley Pit as the source of the problem, based on test results released early this month by the University of Wyoming.

“We have certainly ruled out all other causes,” said Candace West, a lawyer for the Natural Resource Damage Litigation Program in the Montana Department of Justice.

The Wyoming tests, requested by the state, determined that three birds died after coming in contact with and ingesting toxic fluids.