Columbia Falls group wants EPA to reconsider Superfund cleanup plan

A local group is asking the Environmental Protection Agency to reconsider an off-site waste removal plan for the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company Superfund site after the federal agency proposed an on-site containment of toxins instead.

The newly formed Coalition for a Clean Columbia Falls Aluminum Company is asking the EPA and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality to reevaluate its proposed plan. 

“[They should] take a timeout to fairly re-evaluate the cost-benefits of removing, (not leaving), the toxic waste at the superfund site,” the group wrote in a letter to the oversight agencies on Jan. 22, announcing the group’s formation and asking for reconsideration. 

Citizens for a Better Flathead, a citizen-based advocacy group, paired with the Columbia Falls-based Upper Flathead Neighborhood Association, created the coalition intending to “secure the comprehensive cleanup” of the site, according to the coalition.

Declared a superfund site in 2016, the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company, located two miles northeast of Columbia Falls on the Flathead River, was an aluminum reduction facility. Primary contaminants include fluoride, cyanide and various metals in the area, including within surface water and groundwater. 

“I think we were all caught a little bit off guard when the proposal just said to keep the waste in place, which isn't a solution,” said Mayre Flowers, head of Citizens for a Better Flathead and a member of the coalition. 

The Environmental Protection Agency failed to provide a robust and understandable plan to the community, Flowers said. As part of a legally mandated process, the agency held its first comment period last summer after proposing on-site containment of toxins present at the site. 

According to the proposed plan for the Superfund site, released in June 2023, eliminating an offsite option was based on its feasibility. Due to the amount of waste, proximity to an appropriate landfill site and effectiveness and implementability of the product, the EPA found that off-site removal was “infeasible or impractical.” 

“Based on the EPA‐approved feasibility study, off‐site disposal would negatively impact neighborhoods… and the environment over a significant period while increasing the potential for traffic accidents, injuries, and inadvertent contaminant releases during transport,” the agency wrote in the 2023 proposal. 

The preferred alternative, the agency said, is the creation of low-permeability caps, the construction of a slurry wall, the creation of a groundwater treatment facility and monitoring wells, and publishing a review every five years.  

“Wastes are disposed of safely and effectively at hundreds of Superfund sites nationwide where offsite disposal has been shown to be impracticable and even dangerous,” the agency said in the plan proposal. 

The agency has procedures in place to ensure that wastes are managed appropriately with provisions made for appropriate monitoring and maintenance for the foreseeable future, the agency said. 

When asked if the federal agency had addressed the coalition’s request for another analysis of an off-site removal plan, officials said that the letter is in the record of public comments that are currently being evaluated. 

“We are currently evaluating all public comments received during or after the formal comment period and will ensure that all are addressed in the responsiveness summary, which will be included in the release of the record of decision,” Missy Haniewicz, community involvement coordinator at the Environmental Protection Agency, said in an email.

The site is currently between two major steps in the Superfund remedial process, Haniewicz said. After the drafting and releasing of the record of decision, the agency enters the remedial design stage. Actual cleanup begins once the decision and design are completed. 

The Environmental Protection Agency will release a response to the letter in the responsiveness summary, which will be issued in the release of the Record of Decision after the comment evaluation concludes. 

Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.