Groups target cleanup of Frenchtown mill site
M2GREEN Redevelopment purchased the old Smurfit-Stone mill in Frenchtown and began demolishing the site for scrap metal until steel prices fell. Now they are being sued by Missoula County for back-taxes worth $1.2 million. (Kathleen Woodford/Mineral Independent).
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.
Become a Subscriber!
You have read all of your free articles this month. Select a plan below to start your subscription today.
Already a subscriber? Login
