MICHAEL CAST
When storm water rushes down the Butte hill, toxic metals come with it. Filtering those metals out of surface water is one of the great challenges of the Superfund cleanup.
With a grant from the EPA, Montana Technological University student scientists are experimenting with a new solution to the problem: sustainable biochar wattles, or beds of charcoal made from organic waste.
They think they can catch the bad metals the old methods let slip through.
Doing what hasnât been done starts by looking where nobody has thought to look. In this case, the student scientists went straight to Butteâs Ranchland Packing Co. s meat-packing plant.