Columbia Falls Aluminum Company opposes Superfund designation

Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. said Friday it opposes a Superfund designation for the aluminum plant site.

Owned by Swiss-based parent company Glencore, CFAC supports expediting a thorough investigation of the plant site and has retained environmental consulting firm Roux Associates to develop a remedial investigation work plan, according to a press release issued by CFAC.

The company does not want the plant site listed on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List for federal Superfund cleanup.

“First we have to do the assessment,” CFAC spokesman Haley Beaudry said in a phone interview with the Inter Lake. “Right now everybody is assuming there is some cleanup to do, but we don’t know that. I’m reluctant to put the cart before the horse.”

Beaudry said the press release was circulated in response to a recent community meeting recently in Columbia Falls, where local residents were urged by the EPA to write letters in support of including the site on the National Priorities List.

“We wanted to let people know, in our opinion, that’s not necessarily the best thing for the Flathead,” said Beaudry, a former manager for CFAC who now serves as a consultant.

“While we understand the interest that some in the community and at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality have in gaining access to federal cleanup funds, we believe listing on the National Priorities List and designating the site as a Superfund site will unnecessarily delay the entire effort and become a detriment to economic development in the Flathead,” he said.

The EPA said it could take two to three years to get the federal listing. If cleanup is warranted, it could be six years until that would begin.