The Montana Department of Environmental Quality announced on June 24 the approval of a plan to remove of 26,000 tons of hazardous waste from the shuttered Columbia Falls Aluminum Company. The plan authorizes Calbag Resources, CFAC’s demolition contractor, to remove 451 pot liners that contain K088, a listed hazardous waste, from the Pot Room Building. The material will be transported to a chemical waste management facility in Arlington, Oregon.
“DEQ has worked diligently with Calbag to ensure the plan meets the requirements of the Administrative Order on Consent, is protective, and includes proper financial assurance,” said DEQ Deputy Director George Mathieus. “This site is a priority for DEQ and we will keep working with Calbag to ensure safe removal of hazardous waste continues.”
The industrial plant operated along the Flathead River from 1955 to 2009 and permanently closed in 2015. Since then, Glencore, CFAC’s parent company, has worked to create a plan to clean up the contaminated site, which qualifies for the National Priorities list, a register of hazardous waste sites eligible for long-term remedial cleanup under the federal Superfund program. The Environmental Protection Agency is expected to make a decision on the site’s Superfund status this fall.