EPA won’t clean up old town dumps near Columbia Falls

While the cleanup plan for the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. continues, there’s an old dumping ground that won’t get cleaned up in the Superfund site process — a town dump that once served residents in and around the city.

Longtime residents the Hungry Horse News spoke to remember there being a trench dug in the ground. People would pull up and throw their garbage into it.

The dump was approved after a meeting between the Anaconda Aluminum Co., Flathead County and the Columbia Falls City Council, according to a Nov. 17, 1972 story in the Hungry Horse News.

The dump was located about a mile north of the city limits to the east of the North Fork Road. It is unknown how long the dump operated. The 1972 story said Anaconda Aluminum Co. would lease the 15 acres to the county for $25 a year.

Environmental Protection Agency officials told the Hungry Horse News that they had not investigated the old municipal dump because it was outside of the Superfund site's boundaries. The Superfund site includes massive landfills near the former plant — all told about 960 acres.

Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. owns about 3,000 acres total in the area — much of it woodland.

The Hungry Horse News filed a records request with the Montana Department of Environmental Quality on the old dump, but state officials said they had no information on the facility. Inquiries were made with the county, but Public Works Director Dave Prunty said he had no knowledge of it.

Still, Prunty noted that back in the day, there were dumps in many locations across the county.

Even in 1972, it seems that the area was already in use as a dump, as the Hungry Horse News article noted that garbage was being dumped there or at least in the area.

Locals recall the site was close to the North Fork Road, in a dip that still exists today just north of the Bonneville Power Administration powerlines.

Townspeople at the time wanted a dump site that was closer to Columbia Falls so they didn’t have to drive 30 miles to Kalispell get rid of their trash.

Local resident Loyal Chubb indicated he was interested in operating the site, since he owned a bulldozer and other heavy equipment.

The 1972 article aside, the North Fork was a dumping ground for residents well before the 1970s.

A Missoulian story from 1954, found by local historian Norm Olson, found the city wanting to move its dump three miles up the North Fork on a grant of land by the Flathead National Forest.

Another Missoulian story, this one from 1957 and also found by Olson, noted the city did, indeed, move its dump up the North Fork. That story noted that city leaders wanted the visibility of the approach road improved.

It is important to note that the dump — or dumps — as the case may be, aren't within the city limits and never have been. Also, there aren’t many people living near them, as Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. owns the surrounding property.

But at some point the dump may have to be addressed. City leaders have cited the area as a place for possible future housing developments, provided that Columbia Falls Aluminum Co., and its parent company Glencore, decide to sell the land.