Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
We're working to fix a technical issue causing problems with our broadcasts. We'll have it resolved as soon as possible. We apologize for the inconvenience.

Cleanup Options Released For Contaminated Columbia Falls Superfund Site

The Columbia Falls Aluminum Company in Columbia Falls, Montana. The Environmental Protection Agency designated the former Columbia Falls Aluminum Company as an official Superfund site in September 2016.
Columbia Falls Aluminum Company
The Environmental Protection Agency designated the former Columbia Falls Aluminum Company as an official Superfund site in September 2016.

Federal environmental regulators have released a list of options to clean up the former Columbia Falls Aluminum Company superfund site in northwest Montana.

The feasibility study report assembled by the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency details possible ways to clean up the soils and groundwater contaminated by a former aluminum smelter. 

CFAC Project Manager John Stroiazzo says all of the options listed in the report meet EPA cleanup criteria and are scored based on agency standards.

“So for example, [with] soil contamination, there’s going to be some excavation and consolidation that’s listed as an option,” Stroiazzo says.

Stroiazzo says under the highest scoring option, contaminated soils and sediments would likely be consolidated into one of the landfills on the site and recapped. 

He says the west landfill and an adjacent holding pond are the main sources of groundwater contamination. The highest scoring option to remediate that issue is a slurry wall that would create an impermeable barrier around the landfill to prevent future leaching.

Ken Champagne, the CFAC Remedial Project Manager with the EPA, says the agency will select options listed in the report and a proposed plan to clean up the site will be put out for public comment this fall.

Aaron graduated from the University of Minnesota School of Journalism in 2015 after interning at Minnesota Public Radio. He landed his first reporting gig in Wrangell, Alaska where he enjoyed the remote Alaskan lifestyle and eventually moved back to the road system as the KBBI News Director in Homer, Alaska. He joined the MTPR team in 2019. Aaron now reports on all things in northwest Montana and statewide health care.
Become a sustaining member for as low as $5/month
Make an annual or one-time donation to support MTPR
Pay an existing pledge or update your payment information