The Montana Department of Environmental quality is asking for public input on a draft plan to clean up contaminated sediment at the former Bonner Mill site near the Blackfoot River.
Site owner Bonner Property Development has submitted a plan to remove stored waste from years of industrial lumber production and dispose of it at a landfill in Missoula County.
In 2006, state officials discovered highly toxic industrial compounds known as polychlorinated biphenyls in soil at the mill site. In 2016, the contamination was cleaned up and the waste was placed in an onsite cooling pond in order to prevent the toxic chemicals from leaching into the Blackfoot River during flooding events.
Public comment on moving the waste to the Missoula County landfill will be accepted through Oct. 9.
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