Letters to the editor Jan. 4

CFAC cleanup

I am writing about the recent Hungry Horse News article published Dec 30, 2023 entitled “Plenty of Concerns About CFAC Cleanup Plan From Public, ARCO.”  

While the public comment period may be over, it is time for our elected officials to speak up for their constituents, many of whom have strong opposition to the current cleanup plan. The community of Columbia Falls does not want the contamination to remain in place as an underlying health threat and economic liability for perpetuity.  

Apparently, the city agrees. On March 25, 2021 Columbia Falls City Council expressed to the EPA “their desire to see the site cleaned up with the contaminants removed from the site and not covered up or left in place to prevent the spread of groundwater contaminants.”  

In a more recent letter (Aug 29, 2023) to the EPA, former plant operators ARCO called out CFAC’s 2020 remediation investigation as “insufficient for the purpose of supporting the development and evaluation” of EPA’s preferred plan, citing the Montana Department of Environmental Quality and EPA repeatedly requesting additional site information for which significant data gaps persist, concern over the containment wall’s effectiveness due to depth and unstable hydrogeologic conditions, reliance on simplistic modeling and incomplete cost-benefit evaluation. 

Furthermore, according to an Aug 31, 2023 letter from CFAC project manager John Stroiazzi, the EPA contractor Skeo’s report “was inaccurate, misleading and inconsistent with the EPA’s obligation to effectively inform the public.”  

If our public comments were indeed based on false information, we deserve the right to have another comprehensive and transparent investigation with an additional public comment period to review all the facts. 

The EPAs plan is riddled with inconsistencies, hypocrisy and cost-cutting deception. 

It is time our county commissioners and Gov. Greg Gianforte take a closer look at this plan and hear the voices of this community. 

— Phillip L. Matson, Columbia Falls

Wilderness areas

Sen. Steve Daines has introduced legislation that would remove protections from three Montana Wilderness Study Areas totaling over 100,000 acres.

I had the opportunity to meet and talk to some folks who work with and for the well-being of the state of Montana. A wildlife researcher, a legislator and more than one conservationist. It is very apparent that Montanans would like a say in what happens with these study areas and only ask for the opportunity for an open dialogue.  

Only 6% of Montanans support Daines’ proposal to make these changes. And 94% of Montanans oppose stripping these protections. Many communities rely on these areas and any decisions to change these designations should include the people who live and work there.

We would like Daines to stop hiding behind the bureaucracy of his hand-picked supporters and meet openly and honestly to determine the future of our wilderness areas.  

Daines publicly states he wants to work with Montanans collaboratively to support our Wilderness Study Areas. To do this he needs to meet publicly across the state to hear our concerns about his made-in-Washington bill.

Sen. Daines, don’t create more work for the people of Montana to re-protect these areas, as we might well chose, by removing the protections without talking with us first.

— Sheila Jefferson, Kalispell