Montana DEQ puts CFAC section on its website

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality has added a special section to its website specifically on the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. cleanup.

The new section is located directly at:http://deq.mt.gov/DEQAdmin/cfac.  It gives pertinent information as to current permits and history of the plant.

The DEQ recently authorized a permit to Calbag Reources, the company tearing down the buildings, to remove scrap bus bar and other aluminum. The material has been tested and is asbestos free, said Cliff Boyd, project manager for the company.

Boyd said people in Columbia Falls will see more truck traffic as the material is hauled out in bundles that weigh 600 pounds each. The bars are cut by crews with chainsaws with special saw blades.

A substantial amount of asbestos has been removed from the plant as well.

According to the DEQ, 28,340 pounds of regulated asbestos waste, and 454,180 pounds of non-regulated asbestos material has been removed. Non-regulated asbestos is asbestos that cannot become airborne. For example, there is asbestos in the tar that coats some of the roofs on the buildings.

Structures included in the removal are the west rectifier, rod mill building, paste plant, quonset hut, west aluminum unloader, compression building, east rectifier and potline complex.

To date, 12 buildings have been removed. The company and the DEQ are still working on resolving a permit to remove the spent potliner material, which is considered a hazardous waste.