The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency on Tuesday proposed adding Frenchtown's  Smurfit-Stone Mill to a Superfund Priorities List.That would make it eligible for additional study and cleanup resources under the EPA's Superfund program. A 60-day public comments period about the proposed listing begins Thursday, May 23rd. A spokesperson for the EPA said that the proposal was based on several known contaminants at the site---examples given include arsenic, manganese and dioxins---and many areas of the mill are within the flood plain of the Clark Fork River. They say the goal is to enable the EPA to work with state, tribal and local partners to define and implement cleanup actions to remove such contaminants. So does that mean progress or red tape slowdowns to allow the old site to move forward and become other things? I guess we shall see. And again, at this stage it is only a proposal at this point. DB

 

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