The White Pine Sash Cleanup Site is a former wooden window and door manufacturing facility on the Northside of Missoula where wood was treated with preservatives containing pentachlorophenol (PCP) from the 1920s through 1996. The clean up area is 43 acres, accessed off of Scott Street and near the I-90 interstate highway.
Contamination was discovered in the late 1980s and early 1990s during the removal of underground storage tanks, leading to the identification of contaminated soil and groundwater. The site was placed on Montana's Comprehensive Environmental Cleanup and Responsibility Act (CECRA) priority list in 1994, and cleanup has been overseen by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.
In 2000, Missoula City-County Health Department (now Missoula Public Health) received a federal Brownfields grant to conduct an assessment of the site and evaluate potential risks to nearby residents. This work helped improve understanding of potential public health impacts and contributed to the development of site-specific cleanup goals. Since then, contaminated soil has been removed, treatment systems have reduced contamination, and groundwater monitoring has continued to protect Missoula's sole-source aquifer.
Today, the property includes the Ravara-Scott Street housing development, businesses, City-owned land, and White Pine Park, while long-term monitoring and cleanup activities continue to ensure the site remains protective of public health and the environment.
For more information about the cleanup activities and ongoing remediation efforts, visit the Montana Department of Environmental Quality's White Pine Sash Site Summary.
In the news
From Superfund site to home: New documentary tells story of White Pine Sash, Missoulian, July 21, 2026
Missoula's largest income-restricted housing project underway, NBC Montana, NBC Montana, April 4, 2025
Work begins to transform Missoula Superfund site into vibrant neighborhood, Montana Free Press, March 30, 2024