HELENA — Gov. Brian Schweitzer has asked the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to designate the Anaconda Mineral Co. smelter and refinery site in Black Eagle as a federal Superfund environmental cleanup site.

The site near Great Falls is contaminated with heavy metals from decades of copper smelting between 1893 and 1980. Elevated levels of lead and arsenic have since been found in the soil at 375 homes in the area.

If the EPA accepts Schweitzer's request, made on Tuesday, the agency would open a 60-day public comment period. Then, within six months the smelter and refinery could become the 16th Superfund site designated in Montana.

The federal Superfund program provides for the cleanup of abandoned hazardous waste sites and then pursues the responsible parties for payment.