The Environmental Protection Agency earlier this year released its plan to contain soils with high levels of cyanide and fluoride at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company Superfund Site. The plan calls for an underground concrete wall to prevent toxins from leaching into the groundwater. The method is known as a “slurry wall.”
The EPA has said removing all contaminated soils at the site along the Flathead River would be impractical given the size of the site and how close it is to the water.
But former owner Atlantic Richfield as well as residents question whether that will work with the rocky soil. The wall would be required to be over 100 feet deep.
People shared these concerns with the EPA during the public comment period. The Hungry Horse News first filed a request for those documents.
The EPA will respond to comments when it issues its final decision. That’s expected in March
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Regulators plan public meetings on Columbia Falls Aluminum cleanup. Governor extends the window for veterans and low-income homeowners to apply for tax assistance. Land trust announces preservation of 122 acres east of the National Bison Range. -
Montana legislators are urging Congress to help fund a program to extract rare earth minerals from the contaminated waters of Butte’s Berkeley Pit. The Environmental Quality Council is penning a letter asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to hold off on approving a clean-up plan for a superfund site in Columbia Falls. -
U.S. environmental regulators said containing toxic waste at a former aluminum smelter in Columbia Falls remains the best plan to protect the environment and human health. -
Flathead County and multiple citizen groups are asking federal environmental regulators to reconsider proposed cleanup plans for an aluminum plant Superfund site. -
Federal environmental regulators are extending the public comment period on a plan to clean up a defunct aluminum plant in Columbia Falls.
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A federal judge has ruled that a former owner of an aluminum smelter outside of Columbia Falls is partially responsible for the financial costs of cleaning up the hazardous waste at the site.
