"Forever Chemicals" in Flathead Waters, Kalispell's Population Boom & a Felony DUI Arrest

Join Daily Inter Lake reporter Taylor Inman as she goes over five major stories shaping Northwest Montana this week - from forever chemicals detected in the Flathead Watershed to a new flood-resilient bridge for Farm to Market Road.

The University of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station has confirmed the presence of forever chemicals and pharmaceutical compounds in the Flathead Watershed, including sites in Flathead Lake, the Flathead River, the Swan River, Stoner Creek, Ashley Creek and Whitefish Lake. Bio Station Director Jim Elser said concentrations are currently below levels of direct health concern, but the findings should motivate continued surveillance, which is challenged by the high cost of PFAS analysis.

Kalispell ranked 48th out of nearly 1,900 U.S. cities and towns with more than 20,000 residents for population growth between April 2020 and July 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The city grew from 25,076 to 31,851 residents over that period, a 27% increase and the largest of any Montana city in its population range.

A 39-year-old man with a long history of driving under the influence faces felony charges including criminal child endangerment following a June hit-and-run in Whitefish. Myles Wayne Whitford was arrested in Kalispell with his child present and is due in Flathead County District Court on July 23.

Columbia Falls Aluminum Co. has agreed to pay $57.6 million to clean up the former smelter site under a proposed consent decree with the Environmental Protection Agency, marking a milestone nearly a decade after the property was listed as a Superfund site in 2016.

A Belgrade construction firm has been selected to build a replacement bridge across Libby Creek on Farm to Market Road, one of many structures damaged in the December 2025 flood in south Lincoln County. The Montana Department of Transportation says the new bridge is being designed to be more resilient to future flooding.

Northwest Montana deserves strong news reporting. Your donation helps continue work like this possible. Learn more at dailyinterlake.com/support

Visit DailyInterLake.com to stay up-to-date with the latest breaking news from the Flathead Valley and beyond. Support local journalism and please consider subscribing to us. Watch this podcast and more on our YouTube Channel. And follow us on Facebook, Instagram and X. Got a news tip, want to place an ad, or sponsor this podcast? Contact us!

Subscribe to all our other DIL pods! Keep up with northwest Montana sports on Keeping Score, dig into stories with Deep Dive, and jam out to local musicians with Press Play.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 1:24

Hello and welcome to News Now. I'm your host, Taylor Inman. We're going over the week's biggest headlines for Northwest Montana. The University of Montana's Flathead Lake Biological Station has detected pharmaceuticals, personal care products, and the presence of what is commonly known as forever chemicals in the Flathead watershed. BioStator Jim Elser said that the detection of these compounds is not entirely surprising, given results elsewhere, but confirming their presence in the flathead, even at these low levels, is still a matter of concern. According to the Biostation, PER and polyfluoroalkyl substances are a class of synthetic chemicals characterized by exceptionally strong carbon-fluorine bonds. This bond imparts high levels of chemical stability, durability, and resistance to degradation, thus the term forever chemicals. The chemicals are widely used in hundreds of industrial processes and consumer products, including carpets, clothing, food packaging materials, wiring cable coatings, pesticides and herbicides. In total, there are around 15,000 different compounds. Forever chemicals were detected in water at all biostation sampling locations in the fall of 2025, which included sites in Flathead Lake, the Flathead River, the Swan River, and Stoner Creek. Of the 40 compounds targeted for analysis, 10 were detected. Of those 10, 3 were found at quantifiable levels that were above laboratory reporting limits. For compounds with established thresholds for safe drinking water, concentrations were low and well below those standards. The Forever Chemical Analysis was completed after the annual State of the Lake Report, which was released earlier in the summer and deemed Flathead Lake pristine. Elser said in the statement that right now, PIFA's concentrations are not at levels to cause direct concern about human health, but they should motivate everyone to find out more about where they are coming from and to continue surveillance. He said this is challenging because the analysis of PIFAs and water samples is extremely expensive. To this point, all of the sampling and analysis into forever chemicals conducted by the biostation have been made possible by philanthropic support. For most PER and polyfluoralical substances, thresholds for safe concentrations for drinking water have not been established. Exposure to forever chemicals may lead to various health problems, including decreased fertility, developmental effects and delays, increased cancer risk, immune impairment, hormone disruption, and increased risk of obesity. Additionally, the short and long-term ecological impacts of forever chemicals are poorly understood. In a separate biostation study, pharmaceuticals and personal care products were analyzed in water samples collected from Ashley Creek, two sites in Flathead Lake, and two sites in Whitefish Lake. Chemicals used in pharmaceuticals and personal care products and their degradation byproducts are persistent and increasingly detected in water bodies worldwide. They include caffeine, prescription drugs, consumer products, and controlled substances. Pharmaceutical and personal care product compounds were detected at all sampling sites. Like many forever chemical compounds, thresholds for safe concentrations of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in drinking water have not been established, and the ecological impacts are poorly understood, especially regarding their effects on human and aquatic organisms in combinations and under natural conditions. Biostation scientists also emphasize the need for expanded monitoring and research to better understand the human health and ecological implications of forever chemicals and pharmaceuticals and personal care product compounds in aerial waters. Despite population growth cooling across the Flathead Valley, Kalispo is one of the fastest growing cities in the state and country, according to the U.S. Census Bureau in May. The federal agency released the latest population counts for the nation's counties, cities, and towns in the spring. Kalispo ranked 48th out of nearly 1,900 U.S. cities and towns with more than 20,000 residents for population growth between April 2020 and July 2025. That period saw the city expand from 25,076 residents to 31,851 residents, a 27% increase. Three of the five fastest growing cities during that period were in Texas, led by Forney, where the population grew by nearly 80%. Calspell also saw a larger increase than any of Montana's cities in the same population range. Bozeman was the closest with a 9.7 bump between 2020 and 2025. Over the past five years, Calspell's population growth hit its peak during the COVID pandemic, averaging a 7.3 increase from 2020 to 2022. The growth rate fell to 4.3% over 2022 and over 2023. Amid a nationwide slowdown in population growth, mid-sized cities largely mirrored the previous year's trends between July 1st, 2024 and July 1st, 2025, according to the Census Bureau. The federal agency considers a medium-sized city is one with a population between 5,000 and nearly 50,000 residents, which would include Kalispel. The city's growth has slowed from the pandemic high, but Calispel still recorded a greater population increase between 2024 and 2025 than other Montana cities with more than 20,000 residents. The municipality grew by 626 people between July 2024 and July 2025, a 2% increase. By comparison, Helena grew 1.3%, Bozeman 1.2%, and Missoula 0.9%. Billings' population decreased by 0.2%. Growth in the Flathead Valley's other cities also lagged behind Kalispel. Whitefish, which added 1,574 residents between April 2020 and July 2025, for a 20.2% increase in its population, saw a 1.12% bump between 2024 and 2025. Columbia Falls population grew 8.1% between 2020 and 2025, reaching just over 5,700 residents as of July 1st, 2025. Between 2024 and 2025, the city recorded a modest increase of 0.8%. Flathead County, Montana's fourth most populous county, was ranked first in the state for population change between 2020 and 2025. The county's population grew from just over 104,000 residents in April 2020 to just over 115,000 in 2025, an increase of 10.6%. During that period, the county gained 11,014 residents through net migration, including 10,671 domestic migrants and 343 international migrants. From 2024 to 2025, Flathead County's population grew 0.9%, the third largest increase among Montana counties. During that period, the county recorded a net migration of 967 residents, 53 of those international and 914 domestic. A 39-year-old with a long history of driving under the influence picked up fresh felony charges in June after allegedly getting into a drunken hit-and-run in Whitefish. Miles Wayne Whitford faces counts of criminal child endangerment and driving under the influence, seventh or subsequent offense following his June 21st arrest in Kalisbell. Held in the county jail with a bail set at $300,000, Whitford is expected to appear before Judge Paul Sullivan in Flata County District Court on July 23rd for his arraignment. Tipped off that a motorist wanted in a whitefish hit and run was in Kalisbell, police officers found Woodford at a grocery store with his child, according to court documents. Officials described Whitford as slurring and smelling of alcohol with bloodshot eyes. At the request of his probation officer, Whitford gave a preliminary breast sample, which returned at.156, according to court documents. He also allegedly showed signs of impairment when undergoing field sobriety tests. Court documents said that authorities later took Whitford to a medical center for a blood draw. Woodford has at least three prior driving under the influence convictions and an aggravated assault conviction in Flathead County, according to prosecutors in the charging documents. He also has a felony partner or family member assault conviction out of Park County. Following Whitford's latest arrest, prosecutors filed a petition to revoke the sentence in his 2021 driving under the influence conviction. He is expected back in district court on July 14th in that case. Columbia Falls Aluminum Company has agreed to pay $57.6 million to clean up the former smelter site in Columbia Falls, according to a proposed agreement with the Environmental Protection Agency. The cleanup plan includes placing a slurry wall of bentonite around the wet scrubber sludge pond in West Landfill where leech ate and spent potliner from the plant was dumped for years. Both areas have found to be leaking high amounts of cyanide and fluoride into the nearby groundwater, though by the time the groundwater reaches the Flathead River, the concentrations have been shown to be greatly diminished, according to tests done by the company and vetted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department of Environmental Quality. The proposed consent decree marks a milestone. The property was listed as a superfund site in 2016 and it has taken a decade to finalize the cleanup plan. In addition to the $57 million, Columbia Falls Aluminum Company has agreed to pay the EPA $1.8 million in past and future response costs and will also reimburse Montana for any independent state future response cost incurred by the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. The proposed agreement was filed with the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana and is subject to a 30-day comment period. President of CFAC's parent company, Glenn Corps, Cheryl Diskoll, said that the start of the active cleanup activities is a positive step towards addressing environmental impacts at the site and reflects a shared commitment by CFAC and local, state, and federal partners to position the area for long-term and sustainable reuse. In 2018, Columbia Falls Aluminum Company filed suit against former plant owner Atlantic Richfield Company in federal court in Missoula to recoup some of the projected cleanup costs. In 2021, Missoula District Court Judge Donald Malloy ruled that Columbia Falls Luminum Company was responsible for 65% of the cleanup cost, while Atlantic Richfield Company, which is owned by energy giant British Petroleum, was responsible for 35%. Columbia Falls Luminum Company disputed the ruling and filed an appeal in 2022. Atlantic Ridgefield Company is not named in the consent decree. The company is to reimburse Columbia Falls Aluminum Company for its 35% share of the cost under the terms of the Malloy ruling. From 1960 to 1980, Atlantic Richfield Company disposed of up to 135,000 tons of toxic spent potliner and unlined landfills, including 61,800 tons in the West Lill, according to claims made by the Columbia Falls Aluminum Company. Atlantic Richfield Company in court filings did not dispute those figures. In previous court arguments, Columbia Falls Aluminum Company experts maintained that its share of the cleanup of the West Landfill and wet scrubber sludge pond should be about 10% and site-wide, a split of about 53% for Atlantic Richfield Company and 47% for Columbia Falls Aluminum Company. Columbia Falls Aluminum Company did admit that it dumped contaminated leach eight into the wet scrubber sludge pond, which was also toxic. Malloy's opinion noted that the leech eight was untreated, unlike Atlantic Richfield Company's 91 million gallons of waste into the wet scrubber sludge pond, which was treated for cyanide and essentially inert. Malloy also found that Columbia Falls Aluminum Company had an opportunity to clean up the cyanide and fluoride contamination in 1989, but decided to not apply for a government hazardous waste storage permit, which would have opened it up to more regulatory scrutiny and cleanup costs. There's also the matter of profit over time in the investment for both companies. Atlantic Richfield Company expended about $1.1 billion over the course of owning the plant and made about $565 million in profit. Columbia Falls Aluminum Company expended $95 million and made about $1.1 billion. Of that profit, $659 million was made from selling electricity it had purchased on contract at wholesale rates back to the market during the 2001 to 2002 West Coast energy crisis. The Ninth Circuit, however, eventually upheld Malloy's methods for parsing out the cost entirely and affirmed the ruling in 2022. Outside of the landfills and contaminated areas, most of the property today has been sold to Columbia Falls developer McRuiz. The city recently approved a 400-plus unit subdivision on about 76 acres of land east of the former plan, which the EPA has said is safe for residential development. MDT Missoula District Administrator John Schmidt said that the team has been working on restoring access since before the flood water receded and has done everything possible to fast track project delivery. He said they have designed the new bridge to be more resilient for future flood events. Officials said work is scheduled to begin in the coming weeks and will include demolishing the current structure, installing bridge pilings and beams, and pouring concrete. The bridge will be about 28 feet wide and 303 feet long. The destroyed structure was 150 feet long. The project is scheduled for completion in late February 2027, weather and other unforeseen factors permitting. Farm to Market Road will remain closed to traffic until construction is complete. Officials asked those using the road to continue using alternate routes. State transportation officials said that they considered both replacing the structure or fully replacing it. Ultimately, it was decided to replace the damaged structure based on cost and service life. In March, MDT officials said the bridge replacement project on Farm to Market Road was a top priority. The public is encouraged to contact MDT Public Involvement at 406-446021 or email MDT ProjectPI at MT.gov with questions or comments about the projects. News Now is a podcast from the Daily Interlake. We're proud to be the largest independent newsroom in Montana and the longest continuously published newspaper in the region. Today's stories were written by Daily Interlake News editor Derek Perkins and reporter Jack Underhill, as well as Hungry Horse News Editor Chris Peterson and Western news editor Scott Schindeldecker. You can read the full versions of these stories at dailyinterlake.com. And if you haven't already, subscribe to our YouTube channel to never miss an episode of The Pod. Everybody stay safe and have a great week.