Columbia Falls Aluminum Co.: Senators ask if site poses risk to city, businesses

Montana’s two U.S. senators have asked the Environmental Protection Agency to study whether contamination at a closed Columbia Falls aluminum plant poses a risk to the community or to businesses that might want to move to the site.

The move by Sens. Jon Tester and Max Baucus apparently ends their effort to help reopen the Columbia Falls plant that once employed about 1,500 people.

Swiss-based commodities trader Glencore AG purchased the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. plant in 1999. It has been shuttered since October 2009, when 88 people lost their jobs.

The two Democratic senators have worked with Glencore and Bonneville Power Administration to get a power contract that might allow the plant to reopen.

The company has cited volatile metal markets and power prices as reasons for the continued closure.

However, Tester said officials had negotiated the power contract sought by Glencore, but the plant still remained closed.

“This happened multiple times, not just once,” Tester said, adding that he felt as though he was “getting played.”

“Bottom line is this: It’s a piece of infrastructure that I hate to lose but the fact is we’ve been strung along on this. Let’s get it cleaned up,” he said.

Glencore spokesman Charles Watenphul declined to comment on the possibility of a Superfund cleanup designation, the company’s plans for the property or Tester’s comments.

Dee Brown, a Republican state senator from Hungry Horse, suggested that finding a new use for the site might help the economy of Columbia Falls.

“I think that opportunity could be there again, if we can see what contamination there is, isolate it and clean it up,” she said. “Until it’s cleaned up, it isn’t going to happen.”

Brown addressed the Flathead County commissioners in December about the possibility of a Superfund designation. She believes the plant’s rail site could help attract other manufacturers.

On March 11, the senators asked the EPA to work with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to determine if the 120-acre site should be declared a Superfund site.

The designation could create cleanup jobs and open the possibility of new business interests.

The senators also called led on the EPA to study the plant’s solvent landfills and wastewater ponds and determine the risks posed by cyanide, zinc and other contaminants.