DEQ, CFAC enter partial cleanup plan
From the state side of things, the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. and the Montana Department of Environmental Quality have agreed to at least part of a cleanup plan for the idled plant.
The DEQ announced June 16 that Columbia Falls Aluminum Co and Calbag Resources, the demolition contractors, have agreed to address potential violations of the Montana Hazardous Waste Act at the aluminum reduction facility’s pot room building in Columbia Falls, the DEQ said in a release Tuesday.
The facility contains 451 aluminum reduction cells, which contain K088, a listed hazardous waste derived from spent pot liners. KO88 contains all the chemicals that are associated with spent potliners, which can include cyanide, lead, arsenic, mercury fluoride and a host of other heavy metals.
DEQ, CFAC and Calbag entered into an Administrative Order on Consent to address the need for a hazardous waste management permit to store K088 on-site for more than 90 days, and to address the potential that CFAC or Calbag may violate hazardous waste accumulation and storage time limits.
A Consent Order is a legally binding document.
The Consent Order does not address the demolition and disposal of any other building, structure, or equipment associated with aluminum processing or reduction at the facility. The Consent Order also does not address the release of Superfund hazardous substances at the site. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will work in close consultation with DEQ through a separate process to ensure a protective cleanup of the site under the federal Superfund program.
The EPA sent its own Consent Order to CFAC last week.
EPA has proposed the site to the National Priorities List and the state of Montana supports this listing of CFAC. CFAC and Calbag are not required to obtain a permit for the storage of hazardous waste from the Pot Room Building for more than 90 days provided they comply with the provisions of the Consent Order, but CFAC does have to submit a plan for disposal of the potliner material and for the proper transport and off-site disposal of the wastes at a permitted disposal facility. Once the process of removing K088 begins, CFAC and Calbag will have 90 days to process, store, and transport the waste from that individual site to a permitted hazardous waste disposal facility.
All K088, and any other listed or characteristic hazardous waste, will be removed from the pot room building within two years from the date DEQ approves the plan. Additionally, the DEQ asbestos control program has been providing direct compliance assistance and regulatory permitting for demolition of the facility.
For questions concerning the Montana Hazardous Waste Act and laws contact the DEQ Waste and Underground Storage Tank Bureau at (406) 444-5300 or visit DEQ’s website at: www.deq.mt.gov.