The discovery of chromium entering the sewage plant has prompted criminal investigation by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and the Helena Police Department.
According to the EPA, “the metal chromium is used mainly for making steel and other alloys. Chromium compounds, in either the chromium (III) or chromium (VI) forms, are used for chrome plating, the manufacture of dyes and pigments, leather and wood preservation and treatment of cooling tower water. Smaller amounts are used in drilling muds, textiles, and toner for copying machines.”
After weeks of mystery punctuated by serendipity, officials identified their problem Thursday, Helena Wastewater Superintendent Don Clark said, when they and investigators were at the plant and noticed a sudden spike in the acidity of the incoming waste, which also turned a bright shade of yellow-green.
A lab test identified high levels of the particularly harmful variation known as hexavalent chromium, ending the puzzlement of the entire city wastewater staff, three consultants and several government investigators, and shifting efforts toward the criminal investigation. The dumping breaks federal, state and local laws.
Officials are asking the person or business to stop dumping the hazardous material, and police are pursuing attempts to uncover the source, an effort that includes the use of monitoring equipment across the city’s sewer system.
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