The national conservation nonprofit American Rivers has named the Clark Fork River among the nation’s most endangered rivers, citing industrial pollution and flooding risks from the shuttered Smurfit-Stone pulp mill in Frenchtown.  

At the Community Center in Alberton last week representatives with the Clark Fork Coalition, EPA and Montana Public Interest Research Group held an open house called “When the Berm Breaks.” There was standing room only as the event attracted local farmers and ranchers, fishing guides, home gardeners, a kayaking couple and curious residents.  

Much remediation has been done on the Clark Fork River between Butte and the Milltown dam over the years, but now the target is Smurfit-Stone. The mill operated for 53 years in Frenchtown, discharging huge amounts of wastewater into the river while disposing of industrial toxic wastes into unlined dumps, sludge ponds and wastewater settling ponds next to the river.  

The wastewater ponds were drained years ago, but the soil and groundwater remain polluted with PCB’s (polychlorinated biphenyls), dioxins, furans and arsenic. The fish downstream, in Mineral and Sanders counties, are contaminated to the point that they are unsafe for human consumption. 

Presentations at the event were proof that this area and project are under the microscope. Research has been intensified in the last few years, but much more is required.  

“We’re doing everything that we can from collecting data, conversing with other communities and clean-up agencies that have gone through the process, conducting tests, in depth research that hasn’t been conducted on this site. Everything,” stressed Allie Archer, EPA Superfund Project Manager for Smurfit Stone.  

The Clark Fork River berm surveillance and contingency plan identifies potential stability issues and then actions that can be implemented for multiple scenarios.  

The Smurfit-Stone berms are inspected once a month in April, May, June and July regardless of the Calrk Fork River flows. Weekly inspections will begin whenever the stage at the NOAA gauge station on the river below Missoula exceeds 10.5 feet for any part of that week. Daily inspections of the entire length of the berm exceeds 11 feet (flood stage) for any part of the day. Immediate action will be taken if stability issues are identified.  

Also, water samples will be collected and analyzed from any observed discharge to the river. The group was told that there is a system in place for heavy equipment, sandbags, and resources for the next few years until the final decision is made and the cleanup plan is implemented.   

 “We take the berm failure incredibly seriously and if you still have questions after tonight, please contact me,” said Archer. “This ongoing information during this study period is really helpful when we look at ‘where on site could we have a protected space for a remedy’ and behind the inner berm, which is still intact, is where we have our sludge ponds, primary landfills, the industrial areas. But keep in mind that none of the berms were built with any engineering or inspections.”  

Basically, the shoreline was scooped up and built with nothing but the sand, rocks and dirt that was already there.  

“Everything that we are doing is built into the Superfund law of how to conduct each step, which is part of the slow process. We have to prove what it is, where it’s moving and impacting and what the risk is. Then, investigations into each step after situations have been created. Public comment is required throughout our research into our findings and ideas. It’s a long process. Realistically, we’re looking at 2028.” 

Writes Tom McDonald, council chairman for the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes in Riffles, “The Clark Fork River is in the heart of our ancestral homelands, but it’s like being punched in the gut when you have something like Smurfit in that location. We want to restore the floodplain, reclaim lost pieces of our culture and honor our treaty and our ancestors.” 

Andrew Gorder, Legal and Policy Director for the Clark Fork Coalition said, “This is a risk that is posed to the community and the river and we feel like it hasn’t received the level of scrutiny that it should. But now I think that we are learning about more potential problems in the sense of new contaminates. We’re now looking for things that we haven’t looked for in the river and will keep doing so.” 

Spanning 4 miles of riverbank, the 3,200-acre mill site sits squarely in the historic floodplain of the Clark Fork River. The mill shuttered its doors in 2009 but little has been done to clean up the more than 1,000 acres of dumps and sludge ponds that harbor dangerous chemicals and highly hazardous waste. And much of this waste is sitting in unlined ponds held back from the river only by aging, unmaintained and flood-vulnerable dirt and gravel berms. The cleanup of the site includes 1,700 acres of restorable floodplain which could become an outstanding riverside resource. 

“We only get one shot at this,” Gorder said.  “We don’t have the option of going back and saying, ‘Well this happened that we didn’t expect so more money is needed.’ We must have every possible cost with every scenario and with the risk involved. No second chances so research is critical and will be double checked.”