Georgia-Pacific touts new boiler before public

OLD TOWN – More than 100 people who attended an informational meeting at the Georgia-Pacific training center learned that the biomass boiler G-P proposes to install at the mill will burn cleaner and more efficiently and improve the company’s ability to succeed in the competitive paper market.

The purchase of the $27.5 million biomass boiler will be funded by the sale of G-P’s West Old Town Landfill to the state. The landfill currently is used only for mill sludge disposal.

Studies by the Department of Environmental Protection’s Bureau of Air Quality show that the proposed biomass boiler at Georgia-Pacific Corp. will reduce the emission of chemicals into the air.

When a large portion of the mill was shut down nearly a year ago, the entire operation faced closure if cost saving measures weren’t taken, according to G-P Controller Rick Douglas.

“Without this boiler we’re not on an even playing field, so our future is at risk,” said Brian Richards, a 25-year G-P employee.

Air quality findings presented by G-P and the DEP at Wednesday night’s meeting show that the mill’s transition from an oil-fueled to a more efficient biomass-fueled boiler will reduce toxic emissions of nitrogen oxides, carbon monoxide and sulfur dioxide into the air and eliminate the cost of 4 to 5 million gallons of oil per year.

“All of those toxic concerns are significantly below what we consider the safe level from the Bureau of Health,” said Mark Cone, senior environmental engineer with the DEP’s Air Quality Bureau.

G-P plans to recycle a biomass boiler built in 1986 and previously used at a wood-fired power plant in Athens. The boiler has been out of commission for a couple of years.

Residents are concerned the boiler will not be as efficient or as safe as a new one and that there is no warranty with the purchase.

DEP and G-P officials assured those in attendance Wednesday that the boiler will be technologically equal to a new machine.

“We’re going to make it better than it was before,” Curtis said. A new boiler would have cost the mill “several million more dollars.”

After an inspection and pending license approval, the boiler will be moved from Athens to Old Town, where it will be outfitted with a flue gas recirculation system, an enhanced overfire air system and enhanced control systems.

The recirculation system will reduce ozone-harming nitrogen oxide levels. The overfire system will minimize carbon monoxide levels. State-of-the-art controls will increase the boiler’s efficiency and safety.

Mill officials requested last week that sludge fuel be removed from the application as a source of fuel, as it is not necessary.

Wood chips and waste paper product, which already are produced by the mill, will be used as fuel for the boiler. In addition, the landfill operator will provide the mill with construction and demolition debris for fuel at a reduced rate as part of the sale agreement.

The boiler will provide the mill with 16 megawatts of power. None will be sold to outside companies, Curtis said.

The DEP Bureau of Air Quality recently issued a draft license approving the biomass boiler and will accept public comments on the draft until 5 p.m. April 13. The boiler application was originally submitted to the DEP in December. A final decision will be made in April. Contact Kathy Molokie, project manager, at State House Station 17, Augusta 04333 for copies of the boiler application.