EPA researcher outlines watershed‑scale PCB study for the Clark Fork basin

EPA Region 8 researcher Dr. Troy Hill presented the design and early status of a watershed‑scale study to characterize polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) across the Clark Fork basin. Hill told the Skirpitz Stone Community Advisory Group that field sampling was completed between mid‑August and mid‑September and that samples have been sent to an EPA research laboratory in North Carolina for chemical analysis.

"We expect to have three main products of this work, and all these will be able to be accessible," Hill said, describing plans to publish raw data, a technical report and a peer‑reviewed manuscript. Hill emphasized the study’s goal is to map PCB distribution and composition across stream reaches rather than to conduct a human‑health risk assessment.