The Montana Legislature is taking interest in the investigation of a former industrial site near Missoula.
Democratic Rep. Jonathan Karlen is sponsoring a resolution that would require a committee of lawmakers to study the site of the former Smurfit-Stone pulp mill along the Clark Fork River. Karlen represents the district that includes the site and its hundreds of acres of contaminated waste ponds.
“I think the state can have a really important role in making sure that our priorities, and the community’s priorities, are being heard and recognized by the EPA,” Karlen said.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been sampling the site’s industrial toxins for more than a decade. National environmental group American Rivers recently listed the Clark Fork River as the fifth most endangered river in the country and called on the EPA to fully clean the site.
Karlen’s proposal cleared the House of Representatives with three dissenting votes. If approved by the Senate, the committee would have until fall 2024 to examine the work done at Smurfit-Stone so far and prepare recommendations to the next Legislature.
