United States v. Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. (CFAC Superfund Consent Decree, $57.6M Cleanup)
The EPA and Columbia Falls Aluminum Company, LLC (CFAC) lodged a consent decree in the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana under which CFAC will pay $57.6 million to clean up its former aluminum smelter site in Columbia Falls, addressing arsenic, cyanide, fluoride, and polyaromatic hydrocarbon contamination in soil and groundwater. The 647-page agreement, open for public comment through August 6, 2026, requires low-permeability landfill caps and a groundwater slurry wall to stop contaminant migration toward the Flathead River.
Why it matters
Superfund liability attaches to the site, not just the operating business — CFAC ceased smelting operations years before this settlement, yet remains on the hook for tens of millions in remediation because it remained the property's owner of record. Owners of industrial and formerly-industrial CRE parcels, especially older manufacturing sites being eyed for adaptive reuse or redevelopment, should treat legacy contamination as a live balance-sheet liability rather than a closed chapter, and should confirm acquisition due diligence accounts for the multi-decade tail these consent decrees typically carry.
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