Montana won a regional award for the Belt Creek mine-pollution plant
The federal abandoned-mine program honored Montana for a plant that treats about 150 gallons a minute of acid drainage that once sent hundreds of pounds of metals into the creek each day.
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The federal Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement gave Montana the 2026 Western States and Tribes Regional Abandoned Mine Land Reclamation Award for the Belt Creek Water Treatment Plant. Hi-Line Today reported on October 11, 2026, that the plant started last November after more than a century of acid mine drainage. For decades the creek took in hundreds of pounds of iron and aluminum a day, which wrecked aquatic life and made the water unfit for farms and homes.
The $13 million plant now treats about 150 gallons of contaminated water a minute so that pollution does not keep flowing downstream. Organizers called it a long-term model, not a one-day cleanup.
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