To support the study, the Environmental Protection Agency says it will also do further testing on dust blowing off slag piles and on local garden produce. Testing for lead and arsenic will be voluntary, and will focus on women and children.

We are committed to doing that here in Anaconda.' And in the case of arsenic, its urine arsenic. It’s where we sample some part of people, to determine what the level of a contaminant is in their body. 'An exposure investigation is biomonitoring. To address those concerns, Dorian says local, state, and federal health officials are teaming up to conduct what they call an 'exposure investigation.' And they’re still worried about high concentrations of lead and arsenic in their air, soil and water. But Dorian said ATSDR heard during listening sessions this May that locals aren’t convinced they’re adequately protected from the heavy metals leftover from the smelting industry. The Anaconda Smelter site has been undergoing a Superfund cleanup for more than three decades. ATSDR helps evaluate and respond to human health risks from exposure to hazardous waste at Superfund sites.

That’s David Dorian with the federal Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The study was announced Wednesday at Anaconda High School in front of a crowd of about 40 residents, and will be trying to answer the question, 'Are exposures to arsenic and lead at levels currently that could adversely affect people’s health?' A federal public health agency is starting a new investigation to find out if contaminants left behind from a century of copper smelting in Anaconda still pose a risk to human health.

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