| Chapter 1: | The Milltown Cleanup |
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cleanup and restoration activities presented opportunities to improve both the river and their immediate local communities. In 2005 they were enfranchised participants who worked diligently to help mediate issues between locals and officials. Comments from these local activists are presented variously as composite characters Kathy Reilly and Arnie Colbertson.
By 2005, membership in the “Friends of 2 Rivers” had long since splintered and a second contingency, the “Bonner Development Group,” had emerged. In local coffee shops and public meetings, members and supporters of this group argued for responsible development as a means of ensuring current and future economic possibilities. As compared to the Friends of 2 Rivers group, this group has reportedly displayed less congeniality towards state and federal authorities. By their own accounts, they have tended to ask “thornier” questions of agencies and officials. Comments from these residents are presented variously as the composite characters Bill Campbell and Jeff Ehlers.
Many of the people living in the hamlets near Milltown had strong local ties, but also had long since connected their daily routine to Missoula. Some businesses catered to the people of the hamlets, but by 2005 many local profit margins were derived from also serving the needs of Missoulans. Many younger adults treated the hamlets simply as bedroom communities, affordable to college students and minimum wage earners. They saw themselves as belonging to the immediate landscape, but dependent on Missoula for university classes and employment. Persons in this group tended not to have been regularly engaged in public meetings and forums. These residents are presented variously as the composite characters Kelly Peretti and Mary Gunderson.
Health officials had been engaged in Milltown's concerns since the initial discovery of the contamination. Their roles were sometimes clearly delineated, but more often they were left to improvise the details of their involvement based only on mandated responsibilities. According to them and to other members of the local community, these local officials generated, circulated, and explained a great deal of the scientific and technical information that was available to the local residents.