first time since the turn of the century, limited macroinver- 

 tebrate and fish populations became established in a short 

 reach immediately downstream of the ponds. However, despite 

 the significant improvements, water quality as a whole was 

 still marginal. In 1967, the Montana Water Pollution Control 

 Council established water quality standards for Montana 

 surface waters. These standards established beneficial uses 

 to be protected, but did not specify numerical criteria for 

 heavy metals and other contaminants (EPA 1972) . They did, 

 however, require municipal and industrial dischargers to 

 provide secondary treatment or the equivalent. 



In 1970, the EPA conducted a study (EPA 1972) for the 

 DHES to determine the allowable maximum concentrations of 

 heavy metals in the Clark Fork. Some of the results of the 

 study, along with USGS data collected in the early 1970s, 

 are presented in Table 3-14. The data indicate that water 

 quality in the Clark Fork was quite poor as far downstream as 

 Alberton during industrial spills, labor strikes, or high 

 runoff periods. The EPA characterized the Clark Fork above 

 Deer Lodge as severely polluted, as indicated by a deficient 

 and nonbalanced population of benthic organisms and few fish. 

 Waste discharges and spills from the Anaconda Company 

 settling ponds were cited as the principal cause of the high 

 concentrations of most metals and other constituents in the 

 headwaters. 



TR = Total Recoverable 

 *Sainples collected during spills 



Sources: EPA 1972; Brosten and Jacobson 1985. 



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