U.S. Water News Online
PENSACOLA, Fla. -- A new plan for cleaning up paper mill pollution streaming into Perdido Bay at the western end of the Florida Panhandle is being questioned by Alabama's attorney general and federal fisheries officials.
The $61 million project would send effluent from the International Paper Co. mill to a new municipal sewage plant for treatment.
Up to 37.5 million gallons of treated wastewater then would be piped daily into a 1,500-acre wetland that would act as a natural filter as it flows toward the bay on the Florida-Alabama state line.
The Florida Department of Environmental Protection has let the mill operate although its effluent fails to meet state water quality standards while the company tries to come up with a solution. The agency is seeking public comment before deciding whether to approve the plan.
Alabama Attorney General Troy King expressed reservations, in a letter to DEP, about a nine-year compliance window and the mill's contingency plans should the new system fall short.
"It would appear that after all the construction of all improvements, if the discharge still doesn't meet applicable water quality standards and permit limitations, the IP can continue to seek exceptions to those requirements," King wrote.
That would, in effect, drag out compliance "to some unforeseeable date in the future," he continued.
The National Marine Fisheries Service's Habitat Conservation Division has recommended that DEP deny a permit because 70 percent of the wastewater would flow from the wetlands through two lakes on its way to the bay. The rest would go through Eleven Mile Creek, the present path for all the mill's effluent.
The lakes are essential habitat for shrimp and red drum, and thus are protected by law, wrote Miles M. Croon, the division's assistant regional administrator. He suggested all the wastewater be diverted toward the creek.
Wade Nutter, an International Paper consultant, has assured DEP that the system "will meet water quality standards and objectives and will benefit the environment."
Return to the U.S. Water News' Archives page Or Return to the U.S. Water News Homepage
Editor@uswaternews.com
*Your Name:
*Your Email:
*Friend's Email:
Use a comma to separate e-mail addresses:
*Your Comments:
Hi, I thought you might like to read this article.
*Required Fields