PROJECT ORGANIZATION AND GOALS 



The Clark Fork Basin Project is a special program in the 

 Governor's Office in Helena. The project coordinator, 

 assisted by an environmental specialist, has worked with an 

 Interagency Task Force to develop the goals and scope of the 

 project. The Task Force is composed of scientists from 

 federal and state agencies, the Montana State University 

 System, the State of Idaho, and Regions VIII and X of the 

 Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) . A Citizens Advisory 

 Council appointed by the Governor in 1984 has also provided 

 assistance in identifying issues and priorities. 



The Clark Fork Basin Project has provided administrative 

 continuity to existing or planned Clark Fork studies, has 

 identified what additional information is most urgently 

 needed to understand the water quality and fishery problems 

 facing the basin, and — most importantly — has developed an 

 action plan for the resolution of water-related resource 

 problems within the Clark Fork Basin. 



Although there are four Superfund sites in the upper 

 Clark Fork Basin, the focus of the project has been on non- 

 Superfund activities, including many that are unrelated to 

 hazardous wastes. However, Superfund and non-Superfund 

 issues often overlap and must be considered jointly in water 

 quality management and land reclamation. Important data and 

 basic information collected by investigators throughout the 

 basin are useful for Superfund purposes. Through coordina- 

 tion with all agencies, the Clark Fork Basin Project has 

 provided a link between Superfund and non-Superfund activ- 

 ities and has provided technical assistance on some issues. 

 Many of the interrelated issues are discussed in this report. 



As part of the federal-state coordination effort, the 

 Clark Fork Data Management System has been adopted to manage 

 the vast amount of technical data that has been collected in 

 the basin. The system is implemented through a cooperative 

 agreement between EPA and the DHES and managed by the DHES 

 with coordination support provided by the Clark Fork Basin 

 Project. A Geographic Information System (GIS) component is 

 managed by the Montana Natural Resource Information System 

 (NRIS) located in the Montana State Library. 



The data management system uses an IBM PS/2 Model 80 

 Personal Computer dedicated exclusively to the project. The 

 facilities are located in the DHES office in Helena where a 

 full-time operator is available to perform retrievals and 

 analyses upon request of agencies and organizations 

 associated directly with the Clark Fork Superfund sites. The 

 system is also accessible through a PC LAN network serving 



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