Contact: Ernie Seneca, 919-733-7015, ext. 208
Date: October 11, 2001 Distribution: Targeted
Blue Ridge Paper Of Canton To Further Reduce Wastewater Color Discharge
RALEIGH - Blue Ridge Paper Products Inc. of Canton will have to reduce the amount of color discharged from its pulp and paper mill into the Pigeon River by 18 to 33 percent over the next five years.
A committee of the N.C. Environmental Management Commission stipulated the reductions Wednesday in a color variance it approved for the company. Color is a byproduct of a bleaching process to convert wood chips into paper products. Wastewater effluent containing color can change the appearance of a water body, with some streams appearing darker in hue.
"Major strides have been made over the past decade to reduce color in the river and to improve water quality," said Mike Myers, an engineer with the Division of Water Quality's point-source permitting branch. "These additional color reductions will continue the clean up of the Pigeon River while still keeping the company viable."
Myers added that DWQ has been working with the state of Tennessee and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in developing the color variance.
Built in 1908, the mill is located about 40 miles upstream from the Tennessee border on a stretch of river that has witnessed significant water quality improvements in recent years that have lead to an increase in recreational usage including whitewater rafting.
Blue Ridge Paper has already reduced the amount of color discharged into the river from approximately 400,000 pounds per day in the mid 1980s to less than 48,000 pounds per day today. The variance will further reduce that level to between 32,000 to 39,000 pounds per day on average.
The plant is currently permitted to discharge 29.9 million gallons of treated wastewater daily into the Pigeon River in the French Broad River Basin. Champion International Corp. of Stamford, Conn. owned and operated the plant until 1999, when employees purchased and renamed it.
The mill is also seeking renewal of its National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System permit from DWQ. It is set to expire Nov. 30. The division held a public hearing Sept. 6 in Waynesville to accept comment on the measure.
A hearing officer reviewed those comments along with the company's proposal, recommending the color reduction requirements and various permit conditions. DWQ is currently reviewing the permit application along with a proposed variance renewal for temperature, and will render a decision in the coming weeks.
The company's current permit was issued in December 1997, following a settlement between North Carolina, Tennessee, the EPA, City of Newport, Tenn.; Cocke County, Tenn.; American Canoe Association, Tennessee Environmental Council and the company.
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