Columbia Falls Plant Signs Deal to be Demolished
COLUMBIA FALLS, Mont. (AP) — Work will soon be underway at the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company facility.
Swill commodities firm Glencore, which owns the site, hired Portland, Oregon-based private salvage and repurposing firm Calbag Resources to demolish the shuttered plant site along the Flathead River.
The plant permanently closed in March, years after it last produced aluminum.
After opening in 1955 the plant was initially owned by the Anaconda Copper Mining Co. Atlantic Richfield Co. purchased Anaconda in 1977, becoming the plant's second owner. Montana Aluminum Investors Corp. bought CFAC in 1985 and Glencore bought the plant in 1999.
The plant has been proposed for listing by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on the federal Superfund program's National Priorities List, but may be repurposed for redevelopment.