Known or Potential Impacts Data Description

Clark Fork Data Management System

Restoration Planning:  The database could be useful as a long-term baseline for determining the success of remediation and restoration, although results of these two phases would not be separable.  In some cases, the reports may contain useful information, but finding it would require looking up each individual record.

The database is currently of limited use for restoration planning because:

  • Most of the data were collected for delineating the problem and/or designing the remedy, which are different goals than restoration.  This means that bulk of the data are for metals, with very little information that may be more pertinent for restoration, for example, soil organic matter, slope or land use.   The database includes very little on plants and animals; most of the data are focused on surface water, groundwater, and soils. 
  • Areas that are currently undergoing a remedy under Superfund have changed.  For example, the data in the database may apply to soils that have since been removed or treated in-situ, thus does not represent the current baseline for restoration.   The information in the database may be useful for getting a sense of the historic properties of a site, with the realization that conditions may have changed in a number of locations where remediation is occurring.  It is also important to note that post-1995 data are not included.

Data Description: 

The CFDMS is a database currently housed in the MDEQ that contains data in digital form from the many studies and reports on the Butte, Anaconda, and Clark Fork Superfund Operable Units. The database is only current through 1995, and is not being actively maintained at DEQ.  DEQ is apparently in the process of hiring someone who would maintain the database, and if funding is found from outside sources, the database may be updated in the future.  At the moment however, it is not easily accessible.  Mr. Jim Hill at NRIS is the only person who is currently able to access the database. 

The database includes fields describing the report title, author, date, report section that contains the data, data import status, import comments, import date, modification date, and a document number for locating the full report in the DEQ library.  Each database entry also includes a unique CFDMS identification code that includes the general location, the sampling matrix, and the year of sampling.  An additional code identifies author and date.   The database can be searched for any of these fields.  For example, someone desiring information on Butte (BUT) area soils (SO) could search on the CFDMS code beginning BUTSO.  (The full code for a data report would also include the year and a letter code as a unique identifier if there are more than one report in that year - so BUTSO93B is the second Butte soils report from 1993.)  The locations and sampling matrix codes included in the CFDMS include: 

Location                                                                      

  • ASM   Anaconda Smelter                                           

  • BUT    Butte                                                               

  • CFR    Clark Fork River                                           

  • CFU    Upper Clark Fork

  • MTP    Montana Pole

  • MTR    Milltown Reservoir

  • SBC     Silver Bow Creek

Sampling Matrix

  • AI        Air

  • AR       Analytical results quality (QA)

  • AT       Animal tissue (mammals, fish, macroinvertebrates)

  • GW     Groundwater

  • MM     Historical summaries, validation

  • PD       Plant diversity

  • PT        Plant tissue

  • SD       Sediment (riverbed, floodplain)

  • SO       Soil

  • SW      Surface water

  • UA       Urinary arsenic

  • VZ       Vadose zone

The database contains a record of all studies completed up to 1995.  In 1995, funding for the project ceased and the database was no longer maintained.  Most of the reports are documents prepared for remedial investigations, ecological risk assessments, feasibility studies and other reports required as part of the Superfund process, although some older reports and University studies are also included.  Sampling locations are listed, but we don't know if they are standardized to any particular coordinate system. The vast majority of the sampling results are for metals, especially arsenic, cadmium, copper, lead and zinc.  The exact analytical parameters are not included in a code, so one needs to pull up individual records to see exactly what they contain. 

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]     [Home]

1990 and 2000 Septic Tank Density 

Data Description: (The following description is from the NRIS Site) 

Estimated Septic Tank Density. This coverage was developed using 1990 and 2000 Census block data and known city boundaries. Using these 2 coverages, we clipped the census blocks for all areas OUTSIDE of known city boundaries (making the assumption that all areas within city boundaries were sewered). Using the blocks outside of city boundaries, we then applied a conversion rate supplied by DEQ.

The assumption made was that there is a statewide average of 2.5 persons per installed septic tank. 3 hazard levels were then applied (using the census block population density value):

High Hazard - >300 septic systems (750 persons) per square mile
Medium Hazard - >50 septic systems (125 persons) but < 300 septic systems per square mile
Low Hazard - <50 septic systems (125 persons) per square mile

Available as a down-loadable shape file for GIS applications.

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]

Railroad Right-of-Way

Data Description: (The following description is from the NRIS Site) 

Montana Railroads, digitized from 1:250,000 scale maps in the 1970s. This coverage contains many railroads that have been abandoned or dismantled. The name given each railroad is usually the company that operated that line during the 1940's or 1950's.

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]

Wastewater Discharge Locations 

Data Description: (The following description is from the NRIS Site)

Point source discharge data plotted on map. Metadata is included for DEQ Montana Pollution Discharge Elimination System (MPDES) permitted facilities. This coverage includes four types of permitted facilities, each with separate metadata. Click the links below for individual metadata files.

Municipal Facilities
Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations
Storm water Discharge
Industrial Facilities

Available as a down-loadable shape file for GIS applications.

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]

Hazardous Spill Sites 

Data Description: (The following description is from the NRIS Site)

These data are provided by the Groundwater Remediation Program of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. In 1996 due to the reorganization of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality the former Water Quality Division and Ground Water Program were disbanded. Long-term groundwater remediation sites not associated with permitting, underground storage tanks, or Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act (CECRA-State Superfund) were transferred to the DEQ Remediation Division. These long-term sites include petroleum tanker truck wrecks to catastrophic petroleum pipeline ruptures to pesticide sites. The former Ground Water Program sites along with any new sites now reside in the Hazardous Waste Site Cleanup Bureau, Site Response Section, Ground Water Remediation Program. Groundwater Remediation Program sites are regulated pursuant to the Montana Water Quality Act (WQA) or the Montana Agricultural Chemical Ground Water Protection Act (ACGWPA).

Available as a down-loadable shape file for GIS applications.  Additional metadata is available at the NRIS site.

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]

Crude Oil Pipelines 

Data Description: (The following description is from the NRIS Site)  

This data has been developed to show the general location of refined products and crude oil pipelines in Montana for the Department of Environmental Quality Source Water Protection Program to be used to find potential sources of contamination. This data should be used for reference only. This data is to be used as a general reference to find potential sources of contamination from refined products and crude oil pipelines. This data does not necessarily show every refined products and crude oil pipeline that is in Montana. It only shows pipelines from maps that were provided and available from DEQ. Also, several potential pipelines were in the planning stage but not approved at the completion date of this data.

Available as a down-loadable shape file for GIS applications.

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]

Underground Storage Tanks 

Data Description: (The following description is from the NRIS Site)

This coverage contains FACILITY locations for active facilities with no active leaks, active facilities with known active leaks, and inactive facilities with active leaks. Active leaks are defined as ones in which the cleanup and remediation process is not complete.

This coverage does NOT contain inactive facilties with inactive (or remediated) leaks.

PLEASE NOTE: NRIS currently does not have locations for all facilities described above. They do not have locations for 238 active military facilities or for 144 inactive facilities with 'active' leaks. All non-military active facilities have locations.

Available as a down-loadable shape file for GIS applications.

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]

Current and Abandoned Mine Locations 

Data Description: (The following description is from the NRIS Site)

Active mine locations from the U.S. Bureau of Mines Mineral Information Location System (MILS) database. Provided to NRIS by Frances Baker of the Spokane office (509-353-2738 or 509-353-2712). This data was provided to BOM from many State and Federal agencies, and the coordinates come from sources of varying accuracy. The attributes included here are a subset of those available from USBOM. Data from BOM's "one-liner" report on 9/1/1992.

High priority abandoned mine location data was generated from the Abandoned Mines Bureau database in January, 1992. Of the 3156 sites, 496 had no coordinates and are not included in the GIS coverage. REQUESTS FOR THIS DATA SHOULD BE REFERRED TO THE ABANDONED MINES BUREAU. It is believed that the coordinates were generated from quarter/quarter/quarter section descriptions.

Both are available as a down-loadable shape file for GIS applications.

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]

Active and Closed Landfills 

Data Description: (The following description is from the NRIS Site)

Active and retired landfills in Montana, listed in the Montana Department of Environmental Quality - Solid Waste Management Program archives. Attributes associated with the point data describe landfill status, regulatory class, and location.

Available as a down-loadable shape file for GIS applications.

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]

EPA Toxic Release Inventory 

Data Description: (The following description is from the NRIS Site)

The EPA's Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) contains information about more than 650 toxic chemicals that are being used, manufactured, treated, transported, or released into the environment. Manufacturers of these chemicals are required to report the locations and quantities of chemicals stored on-site to state and local governments. The reports are submitted to the EPA and state governments. EPA compiles this data in an on-line, publicly accessible national computerized database. Using this information, citizens, businesses, and governments can work together to protect the quality of their land, air, and water.

Available as a down-loadable shape file for GIS applications.

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]

EPA Superfund List and Location 

Data Description: (The following description is from the NRIS Site)

EPA Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability System (CERCLIS) Superfund Sites. The National Priority List is EPA's published compilation of the rankings of Superfund Sites. A site must be added to the List before Superfund Trust Funds can be expended for remediation. The points in this data set represent the functional extent of each NPL site as defined by the Record of Decision or the Remdial Project Manager or Principle Responsible Party

Available as a down-loadable shape file for GIS applications.

back to Known and Potential Impacts page]

MT Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup

Data Description: Map shows location and size (by acreage) of Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup sites. A list of the sites is available within the selected area, but no metadata are available.

Available as a down-loadable shape file for GIS applications.

[back to Known and Potential Impacts page]