Clark Fork river basin

Figure 1. Map of the Clark Fork River basin showing the location of the operable units in the main designated Superfund sites and other features mentioned in the text.

Breuninger, A. B., 2000, Effects of floodplain remediation on bed sediment contamination in the upper Clark Fork River basin, western, Montana. M. S. Thesis University of Montana,... 

Early in the history of mining and smelting in the Clark Fork basin, reservoirs were the first recipients of contaminants. These reservoirs were built to retain milling wastes for secondary recovery of metals, to limit effluent moving downstream into the Clark Fork River, and to serve as hydroelectric impoundments. They now make up a vast array of tailings ponds in the headwaters of the Clark Fork River and large downstream lakes that act as sinks and sources for contaminants to surface and groundwater in the basin. 

USA Montana, Idaho, and Washington northern Rocky Mountains Clark Fork—Pend Oreille and Spokane River Basins 16 samples... 

Maret, T.R. and Skinner K.D. (2000) Concentrations of Selected Trace Elements in Fish Tissue and Streambed Sediment in the Clark Fork-Pend Oreille and Spokane River Basins, Washington, Idaho, and Montana, 1998 U.S. Geological Survey Water-Resources Investigations Report 00-4159, U.S. Geological Survey, Boise, ID. 

The drainage basin of the Clark Fork, an eastern tributary of the Columbia River, has been affected for long distances by the copper mining and ore treatment processes that were conducted at Butte and Anaconda, Montana, for about 125 years, ending in 1982. Conditions in this stream have been described (28). A more recent paper (29) pointed out that many streams in mineralized areas had relatively high metal concentration prior to the beginning of niining activity. 

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