Farmers Win Repair Access in Deere Settlement
A settlement between John Deere, the Federal Trade Commission, and a coalition of states will require the equipment maker to give farmers and independent repair shops the same diagnostic tools and software currently reserved for authorized dealers — a significant shift for agricultural producers who have long complained they couldn’t fix their own machinery without going through a manufacturer-approved shop.
The lawsuit alleged that John Deere’s repair policies restricted competition and left farmers with little choice but to pay for dealer service. The “right to repair” movement has pushed for years to expand access to parts, software, and diagnostic equipment that manufacturers typically lock down.
Montana Farmers Union President Walter Schweitzer called the agreement “monumental,” saying agricultural producers in the state had been unable to repair their own equipment for more than a decade. The settlement is expected to ease that burden by opening up access that was previously off-limits to anyone outside John Deere’s dealer network.
Columbia Falls Aluminum Site to Undergo $57 Million Remediation
Columbia Falls Aluminum Company has agreed to pay $57 million for cleanup of its former smelter site in the Flathead Valley, where contamination from decades of aluminum production has left arsenic, cyanide, and other toxins in the soil along the Flathead River.
The Environmental Protection Agency released a remediation plan last year calling for contaminated soil to be encapsulated in concrete rather than removed from the site. That approach drew pushback from local residents, who argued the soil should be excavated and hauled to a specialized landfill. Federal officials countered that full removal would be prohibitively expensive and could expose nearby residents to contamination during the process.
A public comment period on the proposed consent decree — the legal mechanism that would formalize the cleanup agreement — runs through Aug. 6. Once that window closes, the remediation process is expected to move forward. Residents who want to weigh in on the encapsulation versus removal question still have time to submit comments before the deadline.
The Columbia Falls site has been a long-running environmental concern in northwest Montana. The smelter closed years ago, but the contamination it left behind along the Flathead River has remained a point of contention between federal regulators, the company, and the surrounding community over how best to address the legacy pollution.
