Letter that was never sent still helps CFAC demolition

A couple of weeks ago the Columbia Falls City Council was going to fire off a letter to the state Department of Environmental Quality about a permit delay for the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. demolition.

Council never actually sent the letter, but a newspaper story about the permit delay appears to have gotten the ball rolling and should help put a few dozen men back to work on the project.

Calbag, the company that’s taking down the old plant, needs a permit from the DEQ to remove the spent potliners in the plant because the material is considered hazardous waste. It contains asbestos and other heavy metals.

In other states, like Washington and Oregon where the company has done the exact same work, it’s taken about 45 days to get a permit. But DEQ has taken a full seven months and the permit work plan has ballooned to a 1,600 page document.

So council was going to write a letter to Gov. Steve Bullock and the DEQ to ask for help, noting the delay had about 30 local men out of work.

But at Monday night’s council meeting, Calbag project manager Cliff Boyd told council that newspaper stories and letters written by Councilman Mike Shepard to newspapers appear to have gotten the ball rolling. Boyd is hopeful the company will have a permit in hand within a week or so.

When it does, crews will once again be working seven days a week in overlapping shifts. Boyd said they continue to haul out tons of scrap metal and about 90 percent of the asbestos found in the plant has been removed. The paste plant is now down as well and is being scrapped.

Boyd said he anticipates the entire job will be completed in January 2018.

Council asked Boyd if they should still send the letter to DEQ. Boyd asked them not to and they obliged.

“I’m more upbeat now than I ever have been,” Boyd said.

Lt. Gov. Mike Cooney will be in town this week and they’ll bend his ear a bit on the permit in person, council decided.

In other city council news:

• Council approved another change order to the Second Avenue West construction. The city decided to add more hydrants and other infrastructure to the project. The total cost for the project, which is all but finished, came in at $239,693.

• Council approved the final plat of the Vista North subdivision, which is the Murdoch’s store. Two more lots are for sale in the three-lot subdivision.

•Mayor Don Barnhart said the traffic control during the reconstruction of the Blue Moon intersection was “atrocious.” 

There were reports of flaggers actually throwing their signs at cars. Barnhart, who has directed traffic at wrecks at the intersection for years, said directing traffic there isn’t difficult if it’s done correctly.