DEQ requests public comment on revised water quality goals for Belt Creek
HELENA – Following the completion of a $13 million water treatment plant in Belt, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) has drafted a Revised Missouri-Cascade and Belt total maximum daily load (TMDL) document to account for a new discharge permit on Belt Creek. The agency will host a public meeting on July 21, 2026, from 5:30 PM to 7:30 PM at Belt City Hall, located at 70 Castner St, and is requesting public comment on only the revised portions of the document through August 6, 2026.
The federal Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) approved the language in the original Missouri-Cascade and Belt TMDL document in 2011. Revisions in the document are indicated in red underline and strikethrough.
TMDLs are often referred to as water quality goals. The updated water quality goals come on the heels of a new water treatment facility, overseen by DEQ, that captures and treats water from abandoned mines near Belt and discharges into Belt Creek. Additionally, new TMDLs include an aluminum TMDL for the lower section of Belt Creek and arsenic, copper, and lead TMDLs for Cottonwood Creek. In anticipation of a new human health lead criterion, DEQ included alternate lead TMDLs in the revised document that will take effect if the human health lead criterion is changed in the future.
For over a century, abandoned coal mines in Belt discharged dissolved metals into Belt Creek. According to DEQ, on an average day, the abandoned coal mines in Belt discharged over two hundred thousand gallons of water which contained over 800 pounds of iron, aluminum, and other dissolved metals.
In the late 1800’s, several coal mines operated around Belt. Specifically, coal production from the Anaconda Belt Mine peaked in the 1890s before coal production from the mine slowed and the mine closed in 1924.
The acid mine water that historically impacts Belt Creek has very low pH and is high in dissolved metals. The new water treatment facility removes metals from the water and discharges pH neutral water to Belt Creek. Lime is added to the water during the treatment process to raise the pH and help the metals form into a solid, for removal and disposal.
Visit DEQ’s website to access the revised Missouri-Cascade and Belt TMDL document, learn how to submit public comment, or to find out more about the upcoming public meeting.
References and links in this press release may not work once public comment periods and documents are no longer active. Please submit an information request if you are looking for documents that are not available through the DEQ website.
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