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CITY BEAT 14 COURT BEAT 15 Newsworthy
As CFAC Demolition Moves Forward, Crews Tackle Massive
Amounts of Asbestos
Calbag Resources in early stages of tearing down and salvaging materials from shuttered facility
BY DILLON TABISH OF THE BEACON
In early June of 1953, a large crowd gathered at an empty section of land below Teakettle Mountain north of Columbia Falls near the Flathead River. The Anaconda Aluminum Company, the global mining and metals giant, was breaking ground on its new hallmark facility, an aluminum smelter that would one day employ 1,500 people and produce 175,000 tons of metal annually.
The construction of the 800-acre facil- ity cost $65 million — equivalent to $580 million today after adjusting for in a- tion. To build the massive facility, con- tractors used a material that was widely relied upon in the post-World War II development era and was even called “the miracle mineral” for its durability and resistance to heat and many chemicals. Asbestos was used to construct nearly every aspect of the aluminum reduction facility that is now known as the Colum- bia Falls Aluminum Company site, which was completed after two years and 11 months and produced its rst aluminum on Aug. 12, 1955.
Sixty years later, operations have ceased and many former workers are now taking part in the demolition of the for- mer aluminum plant.
Calbag Resources, a Portland, Ore- gon-based rm that specializes in decom- missioning industrial sites, is in the early stages of tearing down and salvaging all of the above-ground materials at the CFAC property, including more than 50 struc- tures. Crews began dismantling work on Oct. 1 and the entire process is expected to last two and a half years. The work- force on site is nearly 80, including 36 local workers. An estimated 70 percent of the local workforce is former CFAC employees, according to Cli Boyd, Cal- bag’s project leader.
“This has been the best labor pool I’ve ever drawn from in my 25 years,” Boyd said. “These crews are the most knowl- edgeable, hard working and responsible crews I’ve ever had.”
Boyd said the knowledge of crew- members who formerly worked at CFAC is proving bene cial in the complicated process of decommissioning the site.
“These are very technical projects,” Boyd said.
The massive undertaking is providing a noticeable boost to the local economy. Boyd said crews are buying 4,000 gallons
Columbia Falls Aluminum Company. BEACON FILE PHOTO
of fuel per week from local distributors.
Fifteen hotel rooms a night are being rented, along with ve houses for crews.
“I think we’re good for the commu- nity,” Boyd said.
As the process moves forward, one complicating factor is the massive amounts of asbestos throughout the property. The former “miracle mineral” can cause mesothelioma, a fatal cancer that a ects the lining of the lungs, as well as other cancers and lung-related illnesses.
Calbag’s crews have discovered 45 weeks’ worth of asbestos-removal that was unknown at the time when the rm began the project, Boyd said.
Boyd said crews found the material after testing 1,400 samples throughout the CFAC site.
“You don’t know where anything is until you tear it down and before you tear it down you test it,” he said.
Boyd said asbestos is being properly removed on a daily basis and sent to the Flathead County land ll, where it can be properly disposed.
He said 70 percent of the asbestos has been removed at this point.
The CFAC project is similar to others that Calbag has tackled over its lengthy history dating back to its inception in 1907.
CFAC is the fth aluminum smelter that Calbag has decommissioned. The local facility is a clone to a site in The Dalles, Oregon where Calbag worked from 2007-09. The Dalles facility was built from the same blueprint as CFAC, Boyd said, which is helping guide this lat- est removal and salvage work.
“That actually gives us a bunch of institutional knowledge. We’ve done these exact structures,” Boyd said.
The Dalles site was completed in 2009 and given full approval by the Depart- ment of Environmental Quality in
Oregon, and has now been redeveloped into professional o ces and retail sites.
A big part of the future work at CFAC will involve removing the 451 aluminum reduction cells that each weighs roughly 60 tons. These contain chemicals derived from spent pot liners and are listed as a hazardous waste.
Alongside Calbag’s work but not related, CFAC will lead a comprehen- sive investigation into potential envi- ronmental contamination in and around the site. Work is expected to begin this spring with the installation of wells to test the soil and ground water. Previous tests have detected contaminants like cyanide, uoride, and metals, such as arsenic, chromium, lead, and selenium. The investigation is expected to lay the groundwork for an eventual cleanup of the 960-acre industrial site northeast of Columbia Falls.
dtabish@ atheadbeacon.com
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JANUARY 13, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM