Open house held to discuss Columbia Falls Aluminum Company Superfund site

An open house was held Wednesday afternoon in Columbia Falls to learn more about the ongoing cleanup process and potential remediation plans at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company (CFAC) Superfund site .

Representatives from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Montana Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) and the aluminum company were on hand to meet with the public and answer questions.

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The open house is part of an ongoing community engagement process helping agencies work together with the public to find solutions.
EPA Project Manager Matt Dorrington is hoping to have a record of decision in place by the end of 2024. He said the goal is to be transparent with the community as the cleanup process continues at the Superfund site.

“We’ve been doing community engagement ever since the site was listed. And so that process will continue and will throughout the entire project. Once the record of decision is released and it documents the selected remedy, we will go into consent agree negotiations which could take up to a year, then we will go into remedial design which could take another year and then we actually probably won’t start the cleanup for another 2-3 years,” said Dorrington.

A second open house runs from 5 p.m. until 8 p.m. on Wednesday at the HUB, 533 1st Avenue East in downtown Columbia Falls.