DEQ notes that potliner removal at old CFAC site is now complete
A view of demolition of the potlines earlier this year.
One small piece of what promises to be a prolonged and extensive cleanup of contamination at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company site has been resolved, according to the Montana Department of Environmental Quality.
DEQ described the completion of this portion of the cleanup as a milestone.
The agency announced last week that an agreement signed in 2015 with the aluminum company and its remediation contractor, Calbag Resources, to address hazardous wastes in the potroom building has been satisfied.
In aluminum smelting, pots are used to reduce alumina as part of the smelting process.
DEQ said the 2015 agreement covered the removal and disposal of 451 potliners and other regulated hazardous wastes.
About 415,881,518 pounds of waste were removed, including solid waste, asbestos and hazardous waste, DEQ reported.
“We are happy to have reached this milestone in the cleanup of the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co.,” said Jenny Chambers, DEQ’s waste management and remediation administrator, in a news release.
“While there is still work to do, DEQ is committed to making sure all aspects of the cleanup are done right to protect human health and the environment,” she added.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is the lead agency for the overall environmental assessment and cleanup of the facility under the Superfund program.
The Columbia Falls Aluminum Company Superfund site covers about 960 acres north of the Flathead River. The EPA has said that groundwater and surface water at the site contain contaminants that include cyanide, fluoride and various metals. Soil at the site has also shown contamination, though tests to date show that the worst of the pollution is in landfills north of the plant.
CFAC recently sued former owner, the Atlantic Richfield Co. in an attempt to recoup current and future cleanup costs. CFAC maintains that most of the pollutants were dumped by ARCO and former owners.
The aluminum plant operated between 1955 and 2009.