The City of Missoula Brownfields Program is working with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) to delist the Montana Rail Link (MRL) Triangle property at 1930 South Avenue West as a low priority State Superfund site. The MRL Triangle is a 11.4-acre triangular-shaped City-owned property along the Bitterroot railroad corridor in Urban Renewal District III in Ward 4.

The City acquired the property (also known as the Johnson Street Property) from MRL in 2017 at a generously discounted price and quickly completed construction of the southern portion of the property as a city park in 2019 (MRL Park), providing needed green space for the Franklin-to-the-Fort neighborhood.

To cleanup and fully reuse State Superfund sites, DEQ uses the Voluntary Cleanup Redevelopment Act (VCRA) process which permits and encourages voluntary cleanup of facilities. The cleanup and delisting of the property would assure continued use of the southern portion of MRL Triangle as a city park and allow redevelopment of the underutilized northern portion.

Risk evaluations in the City's Voluntary Cleanup Plan (VCP) indicate that the residual contaminants of concern in the soil do not pose an unacceptable risk to human health and the environment based on unrestricted property use for the northern portion (with the exception of one storm drain), and recreational use for the southern portion. The VCP proposes excavation and offsite disposal at a permitted landfill of arsenic-contaminated soils from the base of one storm drain on the northern portion, and placement of institutional controls limiting use of the southern portion to recreational use (prohibits residential use).

Next Steps:

On February 9, 2024, DEQ determined that the VCP was complete which prompted a 30-day public comment period that will be open from February 13 through March 13, 2024. The City encourages the public to review the VCP during this period and to provide comments directly to DEQ by 11:59 PM on March 13, 2024. The VCP can be reviewed and downloaded in two parts below:

VCP - Environmental Assessment

VCP - Remediation Proposal

A hard copy version of the VCP is available for public review at the Missoula Public Library at 455 E Main St in Missoula, Montana 59802. If you have any questions or would like to submit comments regarding the VCP, please contact Heather Foslund at DEQ, Waste Management & Remediation Division, P.O. Box 200901, Helena, MT 59620-0901, by email at HFoslund@mt.gov or by telephone at 406-444-6745. View the VCP and learn more on DEQ’s Public Comment webpage.

Public Outreach:

In conjunction with DEQ’s 30-day public comment period, the City is holding public forum meetings on February 26 and 27, 2024, between 1:00 PM to 6:00 PM. Individuals and small groups are invited to reserve a 15-minute one-on-one meeting with City staff to discuss the proposed cleanup activities and to ask questions. The goal is to encourage the public to review the VCP and to direct all public comments to DEQ before the close of the comment period on March 13, 2024.

Please note that these meetings are solely on the topic of the Brownfields cleanup that will lead to the delisting of the property as a low-priority State Superfund site. It does not concern future redevelopment or present use of the site.

The cutoff date to reserve a meeting is now closed!

When: Feb 26
Where: Online

When: Feb 27
Where: City Council Chambers, 140 West Pine Street

Special accommodations will be made for any persons with reasonable requests to make it easier for them to participate in public meetings. Examples of reasonable accommodations include providing interpreters, readers, or other personal assistance; and providing accessible technology or other adaptive equipment. The public may contact the City to request special accommodations.

The cleanup of the MRL Triangle is being funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 8 Brownfields Program, and in part, using tax increment financing from the Missoula Redevelopment Agency (MRA).

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