CFAC Superfund listing could come as early as March, company, Columbia Falls mayor oppose listing

The Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. could see a Superfund listing as early as March, project manager Mike Cirian of the Environmental Protection Agency told a liaison panel Thursday night.

“It could be listed this spring, yet,” Cirian told the crowd.

The announcement came as a surprise to panel members, who said they were led to believe last fall the EPA was leaning toward a Superfund Alternative Approach. The alternative would make the company clean up the site under Superfund standards, but avoid an actual Superfund listing. County and city leaders both want to avoid the stigma of the Superfund listing attached to the city’s name, particularly in the age of Google, where the term Columbia Falls and Superfund could pop up in search engines for years. That’s not something they want, particularly as the city looks to promote tourism and cleaner, lighter, industry in town.

But Cirian noted the alternative approach has been used only once in EPA’s Region 8, which includes Montana, Idaho, the Dakotas, Utah and Colorado. Last fall, Cirian expressed optimism that CFAC would be a good fit. But in Thursday’s meeting, he noted it wasn’t his decision — the move to list would come from higher up in the EPA’s management.

“That (decision) is out of my control at this time,” Cirian said.

Columbia Falls Mayor Don Barnhart was frustrated by the apparent change in tone from the EPA.

He said the city pursued having the site listed as a way to get the company to do something about the plant, which had sat idle for years after it shut down. Montana Sen. Jon Tester, a Democrat, went to bat for the city, and the site was listed on the National Priorities List, which qualifies it as a Superfund site. Testing on the site has found cyanide in the groundwater, but none at levels above safe thresholds in nearby residential wells.

“We used it as a hammer to get them going,” Barnhart said.

But now the company has come to the table, so-to-speak, and recently put up a $4 million guarantee to have a remedial investigation and feasibility study completed. Now city leaders don’t want a Superfund listing.

“Let’s push as a group for this alternative listing,” Barnhart said.

But putting the bullet back in the barrel isn’t necessarily that easy. If the EPA doesn’t list the site this March, it would likely look at it again in the fall. Cirian told the crowd that if they really wanted the alternative listing, they should start writing letters to the EPA offices.

There’s also politics in play. Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke, a Republican, has always opposed listing, claiming that once sites are listed in Montana, they never come off the list. Republican Sen. Steve Daines has remained neutral on the issue, saying the decision should come from the community. Chad Campbell, an aide to Tester, told the panel that if they wanted the alternative, they should also write to Tester’s office. Montana Gov. Steve Bullock has also supported Superfund listing for the site.

But the Flathead County Commissioners, all of which are Republican opposed it. County Commissioner Phil Mitchell, who sits on the panel, said the future of the site rested in lawmaker’s hands.

“I think this is a political decision,” he said.

The company opposes listing.

“We think we can do (the cleanup) better and faster,” John Stroiazzo, an engineer and project manager for CFAC said.

Listing or not, investigation at the site will start this spring, with 43 wells to be drilled. Test results from those wells should come in February of 2017. Those tests will be the first measure of the extent of contamination at the site, which has several landfills. The entire investigation will likely take about four to five years alone, an actual cleanup could take years after that.

The liaison panel, which had been meeting every month, will now meet less frequently. Cheryl Driscoll of CFAC said each meeting costs the company about $25,000 in travel and employee costs. The next meeting is scheduled in May as drilling starts. There will be an on-site tour and meeting to follow. A time and date was not set.

People interested in weighing in on the Superfund listing are encouraged to contact Cirian directly at cirian.mike@epa.gov or by mail at US EPA Region 8, 108 East Ninth St. Libby, MT 59923.

Resident Ray Negron perhaps brought the best perspective to the future of the site.

“No one wants the stigma of a Superfund site, but we all want it cleaned up,” he said.