fbpx

CFAC Sues for Cleanup Costs

Federal lawsuit says ARCO is on the hook for Superfund cleanup at shuttered aluminum plant site

By Tristan Scott
Columbia Falls Aluminum Company on Feb. 16, 2016. Greg Lindstrom | Flathead Beacon

The Columbia Falls Aluminum Company has filed a federal lawsuit claiming the shuttered plant’s previous owner, the Atlantic Richfield Company, bears the bulk of the responsibility for cleaning up decades of contamination that occurred on the site near the Flathead River, and is obligated to pay for the associated costs.

Filed last month under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act (CERCLA), commonly known as Superfund, the lawsuit seeks to require the Atlantic Richfield Co. (Arco) to contribute to the costs CFAC has incurred or will incur due to Arco’s disposal and release of hazardous substances.

To date, Arco, a subsidiary of British Petroleum, has refused to contribute toward any portion of the response costs, which the lawsuit claims is at least $7 million.

In 2016, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency listed the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company (CFAC) property as a federal Superfund site, adding the property to the Superfund program’s National Priorities List and designating it for critical cleanup among the nation’s most contaminated sites.

Testing conducted by an environmental firm has revealed high concentrations of cyanide, fluoride and other hazardous contaminants throughout the property, including the west and center landfills, the wet scrubber sludge pond, and percolation ponds. The environmental firm hired by CFAC to assess the site has also detected cyanide and fluoride in ground and surface water samples.

CFAC first opened in 1955 when it was built by the Anaconda Aluminum Company, which transitioned to Arco through a merger in 1982. At one time the plant employed more than 1,500 people, producing about 1 million pounds of aluminum per day. Glencore AG, a Swiss company, purchased CFAC in 1999 and the site closed in 2009.

The lawsuit states that between 1955 and 1985, when Arco formed CFAC, the plant produced 3.5 million tons of aluminum, which is manufactured in massive pots lined with carbon “potliners” that must be disposed of once they fail.

Between 1955 and 1970, Arco disposed of approximately 100,000 tons of spent potliners into the west and center landfills, which were closed in 1981 and never used by CFAC, according to the lawsuit. The resulting contaminants from the landfill is Arco’s responsibility, the lawsuit states.

Arco also used a wet scrubber system in the plant’s potrooms in an effort to capture gases, including some that contained fluoride and other hazardous substances. Arco then dumped the sludge in sludge ponds. The company also discharged waste water — approximately 180 million gallons, the lawsuit alleges — used to cool and rinse spent potliners into a percolation pond. The water in the pond contains hazardous substances, including cyanide and fluoride.

The lawsuit says Arco tracked its carbon consumption in annual reports, which showed that during its ownership and operation, it used approximately 2,105,151 tons of carbon.

“Accordingly, this action seeks to require Arco to contribute to the response costs that CFAC has incurred or will incur responding to Arco’s disposal and release of hazardous substances,” the lawsuit states.

Since 2016, Roux staff has monitored the groundwater through 64 wells and collected more than 900 samples of soil/sediment, groundwater and surface water.

The firm’s data summary report confirms that the numerous locations at the site contain elevated concentrations of cyanide, fluoride and other hazardous substances.