Environmental Scientist

Job Description – Environmental Scientist 3

Environmental Scientist 3

The Natural Resource Damage Program (NRDP), administratively attached to the Legal Services Division of the Montana Department of Justice, is responsible for preparing natural resource damage assessments and lawsuits pursuant to federal and state laws in order to recover damages for injuries to natural resources caused by releases of hazardous substances and oil, and for developing and implementing natural resource restoration plans that guide the expenditures of the recovered damages in compliance with these laws.

NRDP has 12 full‑time employees (currently two attorneys, six scientists, and three administrative/fiscal/contract staff) and was originally created in 1990 to prepare and litigate the State’s natural resource damage lawsuit against the Atlantic Richfield Company (ARCO) for injury to natural resources in the Upper Clark Fork River Basin (UCFRB). In addition to the ARCO natural resource damage lawsuit and settlements, the State has also initiated and settled other lawsuits that have resulted in the State receiving additional settlement funds for restoration activities at other sites, including the Upper Blackfoot Mining Complex, East Helena Smelter site, the 2011 Yellowstone Oil Spill, Libby Asbestos, and the Bridger Yellowstone River 2015 spill.

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The NRDP’s responsibilities are to (1) prepare natural resource damage (NRD) assessments and conduct negotiations/litigation to recover damages for injuries to natural resources caused by hazardous substances and oil releases, and (2) develop and implement natural resource restoration plans in accordance with NRD laws and regulations, guiding the expenditure of recovered damages in lawsuits or settlements.

This position is an Environmental Scientist Specialist within the NRDP, based in Helena. The Environmental Scientist is primarily responsible for developing conceptual and final restoration plans, implementing projects according to those plans, and providing scientific and technical oversight, evaluation, monitoring, and implementation of restoration projects statewide.

• Evaluate, develop, implement, and manage restoration projects.
• Perform advanced research, monitoring, and special studies.
• Conduct public outreach and coordinate with agencies.
• Provide technical support regarding NRD settlement/litigation issues and support existing consent decrees.
• Oversee contracts with engineers, construction contractors, local governments, non‑profits, and other contractors performing work for the Program.

• Bachelor’s degree in physical, earth, or life sciences.
• Four years of directly related experience.
• Other combinations of education and experience may be substituted.

• Master’s degree in physical, biological, earth, or environmental toxicology, or environmental or civil engineering and at least four years of progressively responsible experience.
• Experience in environmental project management, natural resource injury assessment, restoration, Superfund response actions, environmental monitoring, environmental regulation, and/or contract administration.
• Experience concentrating in environmental engineering, aquatic ecology, or environmental toxicology.

• Considerable knowledge of environmental science concepts and theories related to natural resource restoration, including environmental toxicology, hydrogeology, geochemistry, geomorphology, pollutant fate and transport in streams, soils, and groundwater, biology (fish and wildlife), plant and soil science, and mine site reclamation/remediation.
• Working knowledge of the natural resource damage provisions in federal and state law.
• Working knowledge of other state and federal environmental laws and regulations related to the remediation and restoration of natural resources, including Superfund response actions, water quality protection, and environmental review.
• Working knowledge of hazardous substance and oil releases and their impact on Montana’s natural resources.
• Working knowledge of…