Editing East Helena, Montana (section)

==History==
In 1864 gold was discovered in a gulch off the Prickly Pear Creek. This led to the founding of a mining camp along a small creek in the area which the prospectors called "Last Chance Gulch".<ref>{{cite book|last1=Baumler|first1=Ellen|title=Helena, The Town That Gold Built: The First 150 Years|date=2014|publisher=HPNbooks|location=San Antonio, TX|pages=6–7}}</ref> In 1876 Drumlummon Mine opened and it produced a rich bounty of gold and silver worth millions of dollars.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Thomas Cruse: Early Montana Prospector, Mine Owner, and Entrepreneur |url=https://ir.ua.edu/handle/123456789/8498 |access-date=2023-05-15}}</ref>

In 1888, the Helena & Livingston Smelting & Reduction Company's smelter was built.<ref name="metg">{{cite web |title=East Helena |url=https://www.mtenvironmentaltrust.org/east-helena/#:~:text=In%201984%2C%20the%20EPA%20declared,site%20conditions%2C%20and%20current%20status. |publisher=Montana Environmental Trust Group |access-date=28 September 2023}}</ref> Workers and their families moved to the area.<ref>{{cite web |title=East Helena |url=https://www.visitmt.com/places-to-go/cities-and-towns/east-helena |publisher=Montana Office of Tourism |access-date=28 September 2023}}</ref> The settlement officially became the town of East Helena in 1889.<ref name="mhs">{{cite web |title=East Helena |url=http://mtplacenames.org/ |website=Montana Place Names Companion |publisher=Montana Historical Society |access-date=2 April 2021}}</ref>

The [[Smelting|smelter]] plant operated from 1888 to 2001.<ref name="epa">{{cite web |title=East Helena Site |url=https://cumulis.epa.gov/supercpad/SiteProfiles/index.cfm?fuseaction=second.Cleanup&id=0800377#bkground |publisher=Environmental Protection Agency |access-date=28 September 2023}}</ref> It processed silver-lead ore. From 1927 to 1972, the Anaconda Company had a zinc recovery plant which supplied their Great Falls zinc refinery.<ref name="mhs" />

In 1984 East Helena was declared a [[Superfund]] Cleanup Site by the [[United States Environmental Protection Agency]].<ref name="metg" /> The lead and zinc smelting led to deposits of heavy metals, arsenic, and other hazardous chemicals in both the soil and water.<ref name="epa" />