Redevelopment draft plan for former paper mill site released

Associated Press

MISSOULA — The company that bought the former Smurfit-Stone Container Corp. paper mill site in Frenchtown has released a draft land use plan as it moves ahead with redevelopment ideas.

The Missoulian reports that M2Green Redevelopment wants to include about 1,500 acres of open space, two access spots to the Clark Fork River, and more than 500 acres of housing. The company released the plan Friday for the area it renamed last month as the Frenchtown Technology and Industrial Center.

“You’ve got to have a first draft,” said Ray Stillwell, manager of the ownership group. “This is simply a starting point for what we view as the potential synergies and uses of the property.”

The site contains more than 3,000 acres that the plan has divided into three study areas. Those are open space, agricultural and residential, and commercial and industrial. The company has said the site still contains more than 1 million square feet of buildings suitable for warehouses, offices, manufacturing and maintenance operations.

As for residential areas, the company is looking at about 1,200 acres, mostly farmland now, on three sides of the industrial center.

“If that market could actually be generated for residential use, there could certainly be a subdivision or a condo-type process,” Stillwell said. “I think we could look at a variety of things, but it’s somewhat market-driven and you just have to see what having the river access would accomplish.”

As a former paper mill site, some areas might need to be cleaned up. An Environmental Protection Agency report last year found traces of toxic dioxin and furan compounds in the soil of the site, and some 138 acres might need intensive cleanup work. The EPA report found some compounds and metals could enter the nearby Clark Fork River.

Some of the areas included in the plan contain potential contamination. But Stillwell said those areas could be cleaned up.

Local officials have also voiced concern about pollution at the site, and have said further investigation is needed to get a better picture of the state of the land.