Permit could help California pulp mill restart

July 24, 2010 by timbercommunity

The Samoa mill will build upon the “green” virtues of the North Coast of California by installing pollution prevention technology that will set new standards for the wood pulp industry. Officials from Freshwater tissue company expect that approximately $50 million must be spent on water quality and air emissions improvement measures according to the magazine Times-Standard.

As part of its effort to regain its status of being the world’s “greenest” pulp mill, FTC will construct a waste water treatment plant which will reduce Bio-chemical oxygen demand (BOD) below permitted levels. Secondly, the off gas incineration system will be upgraded to provide for incineration in the recovery boiler, eliminating the occasional release of foul odors.

The California based mill released about 14 million gallons of effluent a day in the last three years of the mill's operation. Now the mill must reduce the amount of total suspended solids which present in the wastewater and biological oxygen demand, a measure of how much oxygen is stripped from the water around the outfall pipe that runs into the ocean. The water board adopted the permit, which enforces federal guidelines applied to other similar American mills for wastewater they discharges into the ocean.

Freshwater Tissue Company (FTC) acquired the Samoa mill assets in February 2009. For economic reasons, the previous owner closed the mill in October 2008. When the Samoa mill re-opens it will produce eco-friendly pulp that will be sold to tissue makers who in turn will convert the pulp to consumer-ready tissue products per FTC’s specifications. The eco-friendly tissue will be sold by FTC in the United States.

Under the new permit, the mill will have to build a secondary treatment facility at a cost of about $26 million to remove pollutants before the wastewater is released. The permit and a cease and desist order from the board impose a timeline on progress toward tightening pollution controls.

Freshwater Tissue says water board decision will aid funding drive
An owner of the California based Samoa pulp mill said to the magazine Times-Standard that a water quality permit granted by the state this week could be a major step in acquiring millions needed to restart the facility. Freshwater Pulp Co. President Bob Simpson said he expects investors and lenders to be far less wary of contributing money than before the permit was issued by the North Coast Regional Water Quality Control Board Thursday. Simpson said he expects to know if there is financing available within 90 days, and if it is, the mill could be fired up again by the beginning of 2011.