DEP inspection finds GNP facilities in good order

A daylong inspection of all of Great Northern Paper Inc.’s environmental systems by a team of state officials revealed no major hazards that would affect public health. But officials developed a priority list of items that need to be addressed and watched closely.

A team of six inspectors from the Maine Department of Environmental Protection spent about six hours touring Great Northern’s paper mills in Millinocket and East Millinocket on Wednesday.

The purpose of the inspection was to make sure all of the company’s systems were operating properly in light of the mills’ having been idle for a month. Officials want to make sure there is a plan to preserve the assets, which means keeping the facilities heated so various systems, including the wastewater treatment systems, operate properly.

Ed Logue, the DEP’s eastern Maine regional director, said a priority list of items to be addressed included repairing a pipe elbow, and thawing the ice and getting the wastewater treatment plant at the Millinocket paper mill operating again. Logue said workers had repaired one broken elbow on the main effluent pipeline that runs from the mill and were repairing a second one before it failed. Repairs are expected to be complete next week. He said the East Millinocket plant’s waste treatment system looked good.

The next priority is chemical storage. Logue said the temporary shutdown of the mills had lasted longer than officials had expected. He said sulfite pulp stock left in tanks was starting to break down. Normally, it is sent through the treatment plant, but the plant is running at a low level. The company will present a proposal to the DEP for treating the stock.

He said if the stock continues to deteriorate, eventually it will generate hydrogen sulfide gas. He said officials are closely monitoring the situation. “It was the only chemical on site that we feel we have to address” in the next few weeks, Logue said. He said all other chemicals are being stored properly, and because they are in solid form, there is no worry about containers freezing and bursting. He said the chemicals have a longer shelf life, about six months. Should the plants be closed permanently, the chemical would have to be removed.

Logue said there were no problems at the landfill because it is frozen solid. However, the last cell had caved in, primarily because of the high water content in the deposited sludge that slowly settled out. Logue said the company needs to regrade the cell and correct the cave-in before it can close the cell out and cover it. “That can’t be done until spring, when things thaw out,” he said.

He said the company has done an excellent job in recent years to reduce the amount of hazardous waste it generates. He said the company has four drums of hazardous waste stored at the Millinocket mill. There was no immediate concern, but the material will have to be removed by spring.

“I think we have a dedicated crew there doing all they can to maintain the systems and to protect the environment and the public health in these severe conditions,” Logue said. He said only four of the company’s 14-member environmental staff remain on duty.