EPA decision both welcomed, scorned
The Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement Friday that it would proceed with a Superfund listing of the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. site could end a debate that has simmered since the listing was first proposed in March 2015.
Proponents of the listing believed federal intervention was needed to push CFAC and its parent company, Glencore, to clean up and eventually redevelop the industrial property, while opponents argued the agency’s involvement would bog down the process and damage the community’s reputation with a Superfund label.
Columbia Falls Mayor Don Barnhart’s statements following the EPA’s 2015 proposal echoed many community members’ frustrations with a company that had nurtured hope for a reopening of the plant since its 2009 closure.
While he said Wednesday that he has been satisfied with the company’s progress since then, he added, “I think that Glencore had kind of soured people with the way they had [promised] to reopen, and then they didn’t, so I don’t think the trust factor had really gone up in the community.”
Flathead County Commissioner Phil Mitchell, however, continued to express dismay at the federal government’s involvement.
“I’m sad about this decision,” Mitchell said Wednesday. “Glencore has already funded all the expenses for the next two years for testing and I don’t see any reason for the Superfund designation. Glencore is doing everything the EPA asked them to do.”
For the past year, Mitchell has served on a committee of Columbia Falls community leaders that had been working toward having Glencore clean up the site without a Superfund listing. Mitchell said he believes the federal designation will create a stigma for the community that could hurt local businesses.
“Some say it’s no big deal. I disagree,” Mitchell said, adding that he believes the Superfund designation will add another decade to the long process of cleaning up the plant site.
In statements released Wednesday, Montana’s top Democrats praised the EPA move while the state’s Republican representatives on Capitol Hill appeared less enthusiastic.
“Montanans expect all companies that do business here to be good neighbors and to never leave any community in the lurch with a dangerous mess to clean up,” Gov. Steve Bullock stated in a press release. “This decision will go a long way in holding Glencore accountable to all folks and businesses in Columbia Falls as we continue to look for ways to create new, good-paying jobs and economic opportunities in the Flathead.”
According to U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont.: “This decision guarantees that after seven years of broken promises and stonewalling, Glencore will finally be held accountable for the cleanup of CFAC.”
His Republican counterpart, Sen. Steve Daines, issued the following statement: “This needed to be a community-led decision. I will maintain vigorous oversight of the EPA on this project.”
U.S. Rep. Ryan Zinke, R-Mont., strongly condemned the announcement in a press release, arguing that the Superfund designation would place a stigma on the community and hinder redevelopment.
“EPA bureaucracy in Washington, D.C., is betting against Columbia Falls and taking away our local control,” Zinke stated. “I stand with county commissioners who say we need to hold the company accountable but we also need to retain our right to do what we see is fit for the land.”
Reporter Lynnette Hintze contributed to this story.