C-Falls council objects to CFAC cleanup plan

The Columbia Falls City Council last week voted to send a sharply worded letter to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and several elected officials saying it doesn’t just want the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. site contained, it wants the waste removed entirely.

The company earlier this year released a plan that would look to contain contamination at the defunct plant, but not remove it.

That didn’t sit well with council. After consulting with Montana Sen. Jon Tester’s office and the EPA, the city decided to send the letter.

Tester pushed for Superfund listing of the site several years ago, at the urging of city leaders and residents.

The city is concerned about long-term impacts of the site, where groundwater near old landfills and wastewater ponds is polluted with cyanide and fluoride. The worry is the pollution eventually could migrate offsite into neighboring wells and the Flathead River, though that hasn’t happened yet.

EPA Project Manager Ken Champagne said last week the final feasibility study will come out May 31. After that, there will be a round of public meetings on the plan.

He emphasized the final plan is not set in stone and the EPA could require that the company remove the waste.

“We’re not constrained to choosing [the company’s] highest ranking (alternative),” he said.

But having said that, he said the company’s plan for containment is, in fact, an expensive alternative, contrary to the assertion of some city residents.

Champagne said the EPA will take public comment into consideration.

The actual final cleanup plan will come either late this year or early next year, when the EPA approves a final record of decision, Champagne said.

There’s still some legal wrangling at hand as well. Glencore, CFAC’s parent company, is suing former plant owner Arco, which is now owned by British Petroleum, in federal court.

The company claims Arco is liable for most of the cleanup because it dumped the waste there when it owned the plant.

A bench trial in federal court is set for this summer in front of Judge Donald Molloy.

Separately, contractors recently cleaned up former settling ponds near the Flathead River and in the past couple of weeks, a coffer dam and most of the rip-rap was removed, which will allow the river to flow into the channels.