Berkeley Pit a mile wide copper mine in Butte, Montana

By @fritzphotos Fritz Hoffmann. On Earth Day I'm remembering the Berkeley Pit, a mile wide copper mine in Butte, Montana that I photographed for my story titled Wasteland that was published in the December 2014 NatGeo magazine. The closed mine is filled with toxicwater that will be a problem for Butte. In this aerial view of the pit you can see that Butte (above the pit in this photo) could almost fit inside. The pit is that big.

Digging there began in 1954 and swallowed up several small towns. Due to the falling price of copper, the pit was shut down in 1982 and pumps that kept water from filling it during operation were turned off in 1983. The 1800 foot depth of the 1 mile by 1.25 mile pit began to fill with water. The pit became an Environmental Protection Agency Superfund Site in 1984 as part of Butte Silver Bow Creek.
It is forecast that the critical water level of the pit will be reached in 2023. At that time the water will be pumped to keep the level at that maximum. There is no plan to completely remove the water.
Butte claims an important role in mininghistory in the USA. Mining began there in 1864. The copper mined there electrified America and financed the Industrial Revolution.