CFAC pollution control a top priority

One would think that prompt and rigorous water quality permitting for the Columbia Falls Aluminum Plant would be a top priority for  the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.

Think again. CFAC was last issued a wastewater discharge permit in 1999, and while the permits are supposed to be updated every five years, presumably with a good degree of scrutiny, the DEQ is just now in the process of preparing an updated permit.

The Hungry Horse News reports that the agency’s 15-year delay has been due to a shortage of personnel power. Really? If CFAC’s permitting has been delayed that long, then it’s hard to imagine what other permits could possibly have been considered more pressing and worthy of DEQ staff time.

CFAC, after all, is a well-known source of contaminants, and that is why a wastewater discharge permit was required to cover 11 “outfalls” from several landfills and settling ponds from which hazardous chemicals could seep into the groundwater.

Some of the landfills were used to contain spent potliner materials, which include cyanide and ammonia. Again, that’s what all this permitting stuff is about — requiring CFAC owner Glencore to meet certain terms to ensure that pollution is minimized.

In a separate process that further demonstrates just how toxic the CFAC property may be, the federal Environmental Protection Agency is in the midst of an investigation involving ground and water testing to determine if CFAC should become a Superfund site.

Perhaps the DEQ has viewed CFAC’s permit renewal as a low priority because the plant is no longer operational. Problem is that aluminum production was underway until October of 2009, fully 10 years after the last permit was issued.

If Montana is going to have an environmental agency with permitting power, then CFAC should warrant the utmost priority for that oversight. The deadline for commenting on the updated permit is this Friday. Concerned Flathead residents should, by all means, make the agency aware of their concerns.

Comments can be sent to CFAC Permit No. MT0030066, DEQ Permitting and Compliance Division, Water Protection Bureau, P.O. Box 200901, Helena MT 59620, or by e-mail at WPBPublicNotices@mt.gov.

Editorials represent the majority opinion of the Daily Inter Lake’s editorial board.