Tuesday, Feb 28 2012 6:25PM
The Great Falls Tribune reports that residents of Browning and East Glacier Park finally learned from the state that it was safe to drink the water in the rural community without having to boil it first, as the water supply initially had been declared unsafe by the Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The Great Falls Tribune reports that residents of Browning and East Glacier Park finally learned from the state that it was safe to drink the water in the rural community without having to boil it first, as the water supply initially had been declared unsafe by the Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Those living in East Glacier received their water supply from the Midvale River using a gravity system, while residents of Browning got their water from a local aquifer that has been slowly drying up. The population of both rural communities have been lacking both water quality and quantity since 1994, with the formal order to boil water set in 1997.
The new Stu Miller Water Treatment Facility, which now provides water to local residents, took around 10 years to complete and cost upwards of $22 million. The project was financed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Rural Development, Indian Health Service, Blackfeet Tribe, the town of Browning and state Department of Commerce.
The plant provides quality water for 8,200 residents, spread out to 200 households in East Glacier and 1,700 homes in Browning.
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Great Falls Tribune