by John Dowd
The City of Hamilton has self-reported petroleum-related contamination discovered near its public works street maintenance shop after workers uncovered contaminated soil while clearing debris from the property.
The city discovered the contamination last summer after public works employees moved asphalt millings and found what appeared to be a historic dumping site. Testing of the soil found volatile organic compounds, or VOCs.
Public Works Director Donny Ramer said the city has had the property since as early as the 1930s, but officials do not know when the contamination occurred or where the material originated.
After discovering the contamination last year, Ramer and Hamilton Mayor Dominic Farrenkopf agreed the city should report it to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. “We just wanted to self-report and say what was going on,” Farrenkopf said. “It’s the right thing to do.”
Farrenkopf said that while the contamination may have occurred many years ago, the city is responsible for addressing it. “Even though it was done a long time ago, it is our responsibility to clean that up,” he said.
The city initially handled some of the cleanup itself, but officials determined there was more contaminated material than city crews could remove on their own. “We would like to get it cleaned up as fast as we can,” Ramer said.
During the last city council meeting, the city council approved contracting WCEC/SET Engineering to conduct an environmental assessment of the site. The Hamilton City Council approved the approximately $42,000 contract last Tuesday. The assessment will involve drilling and boring holes horizontally and vertically around the affected area to determine the extent of the contamination. “We’re hoping we can find the limit of it,” Ramer said.
Officials also want to determine whether the contamination has affected groundwater or created other water-quality concerns. Once the extent of the contamination is determined, the city expects to excavate contaminated soil, collect additional samples and haul affected material to the landfill in Missoula.
The city plans to perform as much of the work as possible with its own employees in an effort to control costs. The cleanup could become a significant expense for the city. Hamilton has a $100,000 insurance deductible before coverage begins.
Ramer said the city fortunately accounted for the potential expense in its current budget, at least for the engineering work and initial response.
According to Farrenkopf, the city’s decision to self-report was made quickly after officials realized the scope of the issue. “When we found more than we could remove ourselves, the public works director came in and we both immediately agreed to self-report,” Farrenkopf said.
The contamination is believed to be associated with historic petroleum dumping, although officials do not yet know exactly what happened at the site.
The environmental assessment is expected to provide the city with a better understanding of the contamination and help determine what additional cleanup may be required.
Hamilton adopts
2026-27 budget
The contamination discussion came as the Hamilton City Council also formally adopted the city’s 2026-27 budget during its meeting last Tuesday.
Several resolutions were approved individually as part of the overall budget process, including resolutions addressing water and wastewater services.
Rates for water and wastewater will increase by 2.6 cents on the dollar under the adopted budget. Farrenkopf said the increases are intended to help the city stay ahead of maintenance and improvement costs for its water and wastewater systems rather than allowing expenses to accumulate and requiring a larger increase later. “We wanna stay ahead of water and wastewater. It’s a very expensive system to run,” Farrenkopf said.
The mayor said he does not believe waiting until major repairs are necessary and then imposing a large increase is responsible either from a management perspective or for taxpayers.
Farrenkopf added that the budget can be amended by the council if circumstances change. Residents can review the adopted budget through the city and can provide comments or concerns to the mayor or department heads.
Any changes to the budget must ultimately be approved by the City Council. Farrenkopf emphasized that budget decisions are made by the council, rather than by the mayor or city employees.
He said the budget process took approximately six months from start to finish and praised the work of city staff and council members. “There’s a great relationship between the mayor, the council and the staff,” Farrenkopf said. “I’m really proud of the process,” he said. “I really appreciate everybody involved in that process.”
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