brief update--Re_ Coalition for a Clean CFAC Hosts Community Outreach Meetings August 20-21From:Mayre Flowers
To:becker.kc@epa.gov; Balliew, Carolina; Jenkins, Katherine; John Muhlfeld; Michelle Howke; Mark Johnson;Kalispell Meetings Public Comment; Brad.Abell@flathead.mt.gov; Randy Brodehl;Pam.Holmquist@flathead.mt.gov; cocontactus@flathead.mt.gov; rich.janssen@cskt.org; info@cskt.org;Chelsea.Colwyn@cskt.org; Chauncey Means; Erik_Nylund@tester.senate.gov; Dorrington, Matthew;staalandb@cityofcolumbiafalls.com; Chad_Campbell@tester.senate.gov; Devlin, Katie (Daines); Dick Sloan;jrankosky@flathead.mt.gov; Tom.bansak@umontana.edu; jim.elser@flbs.umt.edu; Mike Koopal;casey.lewis@mt.gov; samantha@flatheadcd.org; Mayre Flowers
Subject:EXTERNAL brief update--Re: Coalition for a Clean CFAC Hosts Community Outreach Meetings August 20-21
Date:Friday, August 16, 2024 12:09:58 AM
Attachments:corrected CFAC Press Release w-logo_Public Meeting Aug 20-21, 2024.pdf
HHNews Coalition Announces Meetings 8-14-2024.pdf
HHNews City joins county in urging CFAC cleanup plan release 8-14-2024.pdf
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FYI
We were unable to arrange for a remote option to participate in the August 20thCommunity meeting from 7-9pm. We will record the meeting, however, and will providea link to that when available upon request.
Additionally in the prior press release notice of these meetings I listed the days/datesincorrectly. See attached correction. In short I had listed meetings planned on Tuesday,
August 20th incorrectly as on Wed. August 20th.
Finally here are the articles that ran in the August 14th issue of the Hungry Horse News.
This one is about our upcoming meetings
This one is about the meeting, public comment, and discussion of the Columbia Falls
City Council’s decision to send a letter to EPA asking EPA move forward with the RODdespite only one public comment in support of this action and some 85 comments in
opposition to the city sending this letter.
Mayre Flowers, on behalf of the Coalition for a Clean CFAC
Mayre@Flatheadcitizens.org , 406-755-4521 H, 406-253-0872 Cell
On Aug 13, 2024, at 6:20 PM, Mayre Flowers <mayre@flatheadcitizens.org>wrote:
Please see the attached press release with details about these meetings. You are
invited to attend, though we realize that travel may be a barrier. We will follow upwith you with a summary of what we learn. Note that similar meetings are being
scheduled for September and October and we hope to finalize those dates later
this week. Thanks to everyone for your interest and support of our shared goal toengage the broader community on this issue so critical to the community’s health,
the environment, and the local economy.
<CFAC Press Release w-logo_Public Meeting Aug 20-21, 2024.pdf>
Mayre Flowers, on behalf of the Coalition for a Clean CFACMayre@Flatheadcitizens.org , 406-755-4521 H, 406-253-0872 Cell,
By CHRIS PETERSON Hungry Horse News
The Columbia Falls City Council voted 5-1 on last
week to send a letter to the Environmental Protection
Agency urging it to release a record of decision on
the Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. Superfund
cleanup.
For at least 30 years, the site has been leaching
cyanide and fluoride into the groundwater at the
defunct plant. While contamination is well above safe
drinking water levels in test wells, none of the waste,
to date, has reached the Flathead River or nearby
home water wells.
“While we understand community concerns over the
‘leave in place’ recommendation for a portion of the
contaminated materials, we would like to see the
Record of Decision issued so final engineering and
actual clean up can commence,” the letter reads. “The
city Council recognizes that without the issuance of
the ROD, there is no clean up activity at all; all clean-
up work at the site is halted. The City Council, on
behalf of the community, continues to express their
desire to see the site cleaned up. We appreciate the
additional steps that the EPA, with the utilization of
Skeo Solutions, has completed to hold public
meetings to inform the public on the process and
findings to date as well as the ROD process.
“The City’s stated concern has always been that of
providing safe, clean drinking water to our
community while cleaning up the site as well as the
impacts in the residential areas just outside the city,
such as Aluminum City. We do not believe that a do
nothing approach is in the best interest of the
community.”
The reference to Skeo Solutions is when consultants
from the company met with city officials and the
public to offer its advice on the cleanup plan. When
they first met with the public and city officials last
July, they thought the “waste in place” plan had
merit, but needed some modifications to keep surface
and groundwater away from it.
At Monday’s meeting, members of the Coalition for
He noted the EPA had weighed its options on the
cleanup, from hauling the waste away to containing it
on site with a massive slurry wall, bolstered by
monitoring wells and, if necessary, a water treatment
facility.
“I wanted it hauled away, until I got the information
(on the slurry wall). Once I got the information, I
actually trust those scientists...” Barnhart said.
Hauling the waste away to an approved landfill in
Oregon would take several years and cost between
$624 million and $1.4 billion, the EPA estimated.
It would also result in a large hole on the site.
The slurry wall containment, which ranked the
highest on the EPA’s feasibility study for cleaning up
the site, would cost about $57 million.
Councilmembers also expressed skepticism that the
letter would have much impact on the EPA’s decision
to release the record of decision anyway.
They noted the Coalition for a Clean CFAC had
2,000 signatures on a petition asking for the EPA to
pause any decision on the cleanup plan until they can
further analyze it, which amounted to more clout than
the city council.
The Coalition has also recently met with KC Becker,
the regional administrator of the EPA, something city
leaders have never been afforded an opportunity to
do, Barnhart noted.
Councilwoman Kathy Price was the lone “no” vote
on the letter.
“We have to remember we are the voice of the
people,” she said.
The Coalition petition reads, in part, “We ask the
EPA and DEQ to require an independent cost analysis
be done to evaluate the permanence and long-term
effectiveness of off-site removal. This is necessary to
ensure the cleanup truly protects our water, our
health, our community, and our economy.
City joins county in urging CFAC cleanup plan release
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the Clean CFAC, a local group that says it’s taking a
“deep dive” into the cleanup plan, with help from
Skeo, again, wanted the city to postpone sending the
letter a few more months.
“This isn’t going to set things back, in fact it may
enhance and streamline the process going forward,”
claimed Mayre Flowers in her pleadings to council.
But Mayor Don Barnhart said he’s sat through
countless meetings with the EPA , the company and
the state Department of Environmental Quality over
the years. He noted it was the city that got the initial
ball rolling back in 2015 to put the plant on the
Superfund list.
Barnhart noted that the Superfund process has
followed the EPA’s rules and were “checked, double
checked and triple checked.”
“CFAC and ARCO, and early on Anaconda Co.,
made many millions of dollars operating this
aluminum smelter from 1955-2009 and provided
good jobs.
“But the citizens of the Flathead watershed shouldn’t
be left with their toxic mess. The site must be fully
cleaned up and restored for future beneficial uses.”
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Coalition announces meetings
The Coalition For A Clean CFAC will be hosting
public meetings on Aug. 20 and 21. These meetings
invite the public’s input regarding the proposed
Columbia Falls Aluminum Plant Superfund cleanup
plan.
The August presentation and discussion sessions will
focus on the barriers and opportunities to removing
some or all of the waste from the CFAC Superfund
site. Karmen King, as an independent expert and
consultant on Superfund site cleanup projects around
the country, will be part of the presentation.
She is a compliance and ecological risk expert with
many years of experience in community cleanups of
hazardous waste Superfund sites.
Her presence and support for the community is
through a unique EPA (Federal Environmental
Protection Agency) program that supports
independent analysis of superfund cleanup plans led
by affected communities. King and some of the
Coalition members leading efforts to do a deep dive
into the remedial investigations will present some
tentative findings from their research and take
questions. Public participation and feedback are
crucial for the EPA, who is the final decision-maker,
to get the cleanup accomplished with the
community’s best interest in mind.
The Coalition commends the Columbia Falls and
Flathead Valley community for participation these
past few months in the CFAC/Glencoresponsored
community meetings where CFAC consultants
presented their plan and arguments for primarily
leaving the toxic waste in place.
However, these August Coalition-hosted meetings are
designed to be different as they will feature recent
independent research and be interactive with the
opportunity for community members to raise and
discuss questions and identify additional concerns.
Coalition Board member, Phil Matson says, “EPA’s
own research and survey of residents in 2022
demonstrated the public wanted assistance with
having independent consultants review and help
earthquakes and is subject to potential flood events.
Does the cleanup plan satisfactorily address or
mitigate these issues?”
We think an independent look is needed to answer
questions like this. Your voice is essential to help
with this review.
On Aug, 20 from 7-9 p.m. at the Glacier Gateway
Elementary School, a general community meeting
will be held.
There will be updates presented by Coalition
members regarding information gleaned from the first
set of questions they are focusing on regarding
contaminated waste removal.
King will help lead the question and answer session.
On Aug. 21 from 10:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. the public is
welcome to drop by Glacier Gateway Elementary
School to give King an opportunity to meet the
community and provide an additional opportunity for
the public to ask questions or share concerns.
In addition, on Aug.
21 from 11:30-1 p.m. a no-host drop in-lunch time
will be available in Columbia Falls for invited
business and community leaders to meet King and
have questions and concerns heard. The location is
yet to be determined.
Because space is limited, please RSVP by calling
406-890-1659.
These public meetings are designed to be interactive
and to assist the public in getting the information they
need to both understand what is being proposed and
what could be possible.
“This is an exciting opportunity for residents in the
Flathead Valley to be heard”, said Shirley Folkwein, a
Board member of the Coalition. “We all live next to
or downstream from the Flathead River and making
sure the toxic waste at the CFAC site is cleaned up is
vital to us all and to future generations.”
Additional interactive community meetings will be
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analyze some 10,000 pages of documents that are
being used to justify Glencore’s recommendation not
to move this highly toxic waste. This toxic waste sits
next to the Flathead River on glacier till soils where
large fluctuations in groundwater levels occur. This
waste sits in unlined landfills, with a history of long-
term seepage of unknown quantities of toxic
chemicals moving slowly into the river, while the site
lies along a fault zone prone to
held in September and October
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