Boil water order lifted for Blackfeet Nation town after 18 years

Thursday, February 16, 2012  

After 18 years, a boil water order for a town on the Blackfeet Nation has been lifted by the state of Montana.

The order in East Glacier Park went into effect in March 1994 due to high turbidity, or cloudiness, in the water. It was finally lifted after the installation of a $22 million water treatment and delivery system on the reservation.

"Most boil orders are maybe in place for a few weeks, maybe a month, maybe two months," Jon Dilliard, the chief of theDepartment of Environmental Quality's Public Water and Subdivisions Bureau, told The Great Falls Tribune. "To be in place, in this case, essentially for 18 years, is just amazing."

The tribe had difficulty securing funds to upgrade the system.

Get the Story:
'18-year' boil order in East Glacier, Browning lifted (The Great Falls Tribune 2/16)