Contaminated Fort Peck area cut off from water

HELENA — A pipeline failure has cut off the water supply to about two dozen homes in a contaminated area of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, leaving residents without drinking and bath water for more than three weeks.

The pipeline from Poplar's water supply system to the homes north of the city has been out of service since May 13, said Deb Madison, the Fort Peck Assiniboine and Sioux Tribes' environmental program manager.

The 23 homes have received the piped water since 2005, after the Environmental Protection Agency ordered three oil companies to build the line because of a spreading underg...