CFAC could get Superfund designation this spring

Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. could receive a Superfund listing as early as March, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Project Manager Mike Cirian told a liaison panel Thursday night.

“It could be listed this spring yet,” Cirian said.

The announcement came as a surprise to panel members, who said they were led to believe last fall that the federal agency was leaning toward a Superfund alternative approach. The alternative would make the company clean up the plant site under Superfund standards, but avoid an actual Superfund listing. Both county and city leaders want to avoid the stigma of the Superfund listing attached to the city’s name, particularly in the age of Google, where the words Columbia Falls and Superfund could pop up in on-line search engines for years.

That’s not something they want, particularly as the city looks to promote tourism and cleaner, lighter industry.

Cirian noted the alternative approach has been used only once in EPA’s Region 8, which includes Montana, Idaho, the Dakotas, Utah and Colorado. Last fall he expressed optimism that aluminum plant site would be a good fit.

But during Thursday’s meeting, he said it wasn’t his decision — the move to list would come from higher up in the federal agency’s management.

“That [decision] is out of my control at this time,” Cirian said.

Columbia Falls Mayor Don Barnhart said he was frustrated by the apparent change in tone from the federal agency.

He said the city pursued having the site listed as a way to get the company to do something about the plant, which had sat idle for years after it shut down. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., went to bat for the city, and the site was listed on the National Priorities List, which qualifies it as a potential Superfund site. Testing on the site found cyanide in the groundwater, but none at levels above safe thresholds in nearby residential wells.

“We used it as a hammer to get them going,” Barnhart said.

But now the company has come to the table, so to speak, and recently put up a $4 million guarantee to have a remedial investigation and feasibility study completed.

City leaders don’t want a Superfund listing.

“Let’s push as a group for this alternative listing,” Barnhart said.

But putting the bullet back in the barrel isn’t necessarily that easy. If the federal agency doesn’t list the site in March, it would likely look at it again in the fall. Cirian told people at the meeting that if they really want the alternative listing, they should start writing letters to the EPA.

There also are politics in play. Republican U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke of Whitefish has always opposed Superfund designation for the aluminum plant site, claiming that once sites are listed in Montana they never come off the list.

Sen. Steve Daines, R-Mont., has remained neutral, saying the decision should come from the community. Chad Campbell, an aide to Tester, told panel members if they want the alternative, they should write to Tester’s office. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has supported the Superfund listing.

Flathead County commissioners oppose it. Commissioner Phil Mitchell, who serves on the panel, said the future of the site rests in lawmakers’ hands.

“I think this is a political decision,” he said.

Columiba Falls Aluminum Co. also opposes the listing.

“We think we can do [the cleanup] better and faster,” said John Stroiazzo, an engineer and project manager for CFAC.

Listing or not, investigation at the site will start this spring, with 43 wells to be drilled. Test results from those wells should come in February 2017. Those tests will be the first measure of the extent of contamination at the site, which has several landfills. The entire investigation likely will take about four to five years and actual cleanup could take years after that.

The liaison panel, which had been meeting every month, will now meet less frequently. Cheryl Driscoll of CFAC said each meeting costs the company about $25,000 in travel and employee costs. The next meeting is scheduled in May as drilling starts. There will be an on-site tour and meeting to follow.

People interested in commenting on the Superfund listing are encouraged to contact Cirian directly at cirian.mike@epa.gov or by mail at U.S. EPA Region 8, 108 East Ninth St., Libby, MT 59923.

Columbia Falls resident Ray Negron summed up the dilemma, saying “no one wants the stigma of a Superfund site, but we all want it cleaned up.”