EPA says it would be tough to remove all of the waste at CFAC

The Environmental Protection Agency made its strongest case yet for a “waste in place” solution for the cleanup of the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. Superfund site during a public meeting last week.

Members of the Columbia Falls community have called for removing the waste and hauling it off to an approved landfill in Oregon by rail.

But that comes with an estimated price tag of between $624 million and $1.4 billion. Cost was just one factor in the EPA’s analysis of that alternative, Matt Dorrington, project manager for the EPA, told the capacity crowd.