Environmental Law and Paper Pollution

"Paper pollution refers to environmental pollution caused by the production, use and recycling of paper.

Paper pollution causes severe adverse effects to the quality of air, water and land.  Discarded paper is a major component of many landfill sites.

Paper recycling is also a source of pollution due to the sludge produced during deinking.

The amount of paper and paper products used is so enormous that the environmental impact of the pollution caused by it is also very significant.

Therefore, great efforts are required to ensure that the environment is protected during the production, use and recycling/disposal of this enormous volume of material.

Pulp and paper is the third largest industrial polluter to air, water, and land in the United States, and studies show that it releases well over 100 million kg of toxic pollution each year.

The main components of pulp mill related pollution are chlorine and chlorine based materials, sulfur, hydrogen sulfide and sulfur dioxide.

Chlorine and compounds of chlorine are used in the bleaching of wood pulp, especially chemical pulps produced by the kraft process or sulfite process.   Plants using elemental chlorine produced significant quantities of dioxins that are persistent organic pollutants that are one of the most toxic human-released pollutants.

The used process water from a pulp mill contains a lot of organic material such as lignin and other organic material from the trees, including chlorinated organic material.  The presence of these organic substances results in high biological oxygen demand (BOD) and dissolved organic carbon (DOC).

Sulfur-based compounds are used in kraft process as well as sulfite process for making wood pulp. The release of sulfur dioxide is of particular concern because it is water soluble and is a major cause of acid rain.

Air emissions of hydrogen sulfide, methyl mercaptan, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, and other volatile sulfur compounds are the cause of the odor characteristic of pulp mills utilizing the kraft process.

Other chemicals that are released into the air and water from most paper mills include carbon monoxide, ammonia, nitrogen oxide, mercury, nitrates, methanol, benzene, volatile organic compounds and chloroform.

Nitrogen dioxide(NO) sulfur dioxide (SO) and carbon dioxide (CO) are emitted during paper manufacturing. 

All of them cause acid rain and CO is a major greenhouse gas that causes climate change. These toxic gases contribute to air pollution.

Waste water discharged for a pulp and paper mills contain solids, nutrients and dissolved organic matter which when present in high levels pollute water.

Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus can cause or aggravate eutrophication of fresh water bodies such as lakes and rivers.

Organic matter dissolved in fresh water changes ecological characteristics and may lead to death of all higher living organisms. Waste water may also be polluted with organochlorine compounds. Some of these are naturally occurring in the wood, but chlorine bleaching of the pulp produces far larger amounts of toxins to be released.

Delignification of chemical pulps releases considerable amounts of organic material into the environment, particularly into waterbodies.  Deinking recycled paper pulp produces waste slurry which may go to landfill."

Source
http://environmentallaw.uslegal.com/specific-issues/paper/

Roger Hagan new president of Port Townsend Paper Corp. - National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems Permit (NPDES)

"Hagan arrives at an interesting time, but then again, the last several years have been interesting all around. Clear challenges await him and the mill. From the mill’s perspective, increasing efficient production, building market share and making the profits that keep the doors open and 300 families directly employed are at the top of the list.

For both the mill and the surrounding community, environmental issues are also front and center.

Current attention is on the 33 acres of treatment ponds that address the mill’s ample wastewater – about 12 million gallons per day, eventually flowing into Port Townsend Bay. The ponds are responsible for most of the mill’s singular smell.

Last week, PT Paper announced it would invest $1 million to install an auto-dredging system that should, over time, dredge out the odoriferous sludge and otherwise assist in the decomposition process.

Both that project and the broader conditions of a new National Pollutant Discharge Elimination Systems Permit (NPDES) are under scrutiny, with the 54-page draft permit now open to public review until June 21.

A debate over the proper level of regulation of the mill’s 25-acre solid waste site – a huge ash pile – has gone legal with administrative and court reviews in the future.

These reviews come on the heels of a lengthy local public debate over PT Paper’s $55 million proposal to rebuild and expand the biomass-burning ability of Power Boiler 10 into a cogeneration plant (producing heat and electricity).

The burning of additional tons of biomass would have reduced the burning of petroleum as an energy source, but would have increased particulate matter and some gases. But the mill also proposed a $10 million upgrade to its air pollution scrubbing equipment that would have, according to the mill, produced a 70 percent reduction in the current level of particulates that reach the air.

While there was an environmental outcry, it appears that energy economics are primarily responsible for pushing the biomass project to the back shelf, if not into the waste bin. For economic reasons related mostly to cheap natural gas and California regulations, the number of potential customers for the exported electricity has dissipated. Of course that also delays the proposed investment in new air pollution control equipment.

Still, the mill is moving ahead with other green efforts, including a 2012 reduction of fuel oil consumption by 1.85 million gallons, with more cuts expected this year, according to PT Paper’s environmental director, Kevin Scott. And, as outgoing president Loney always reminded people, PT Paper remains one of the largest recyclers and reusers in Washington state, processing tons of old cardboard daily into new containerboard or unbleached pulp for resale, and reusing tons of wood waste as fresh wood fiber.

Regarding the profit-and-loss statement, hard information is hard to come by, as the mill’s books are no longer public. But the signs should be positive: Chip supply is cheaper, thanks to busier sawmills; weaker competing pulp mills have washed out of the market; prices for packaging are picking up across the board."

Source and Full Article
http://www.ptleader.com/main.asp?SectionID=5&SubSectionID=5&ArticleID=33488