The Reach for Unbleached! booth at the Vancouver Folk Fest in July congratulated the Festival for its decision to use recycled chlorine free paper products, and paper only when necessary. Along with the wonderful music, the festival featured real plates which fans "rented" for their meal.

Rolland has announced a new addition to its Process Chlorine Free (PCF) papers certified by the Chlorine Free Products Association (CFPA). New Life Opaque 100 is a publishing grade. Rolland's other certified PCF papers are: New Life DP 100 copy paper, and Evolution 100, a quality text and cover line. (New Life is the paper chosen by Reach for Unbleached! and Paper Choice for the Office Paper Buying Club.)

"Rolland is the first Canadian-based paper manufacturer to certify and increase its certified grade offerings, which exceed the PCF label requirements," said CFPA Executive Director Archie J. Beaton. To meet the requirements, Rolland purchases certified de-inked pulp from Breakey Fibers and certified virgin fibre from Sodra Cell.

The TCF/PCF certification indicates the products are not made using harmful, chlorine-containing compounds; use tree fibre that comes from responsibly managed forestry, not old growth forest; the mill has no current nor pending environmental permit violations; and complies with stringent formula and definitions for post-consumer content.

Rolland is part of the Cascades Group, producing high quality and specialty paper and packaging products. Rolland was founded in 1882 and employs 1,200 people at two mills.

* CFPA press release April 2001

Gabriola-based New Society Publishers, one of BC's largest houses, announced in June that it had found sufficient high quality reasonably priced book paper from New Leaf papers to convert its entire operation to recycled chlorine free papers by 2003.

The popular social change publisher noted that growth in paper consumption is so strong that in 2010 the world will consume 50% more paper than in 1998. In announcing that their books would now be old growth free, Judith Plant discerned a trend toward environmental and social responsibility. New Society books will be printed on acid free paper that is 100% old growth forest free, using post consumer recycled or alternative fibres, process chlorine free, and printed with vegetable-based, low VOC inks.

* New Society press release June 2001

Elk Falls (Campbell River, British Coumbia) is reeling from an unprecedented string of emergencies this summer, adding to its other problems.

First came the Island Co-generation Project and appeals of its pollution permits, and the "start up" problems which aren&Mac226;t resolved nine months after the plant was supposed to start supplying steam to the mill. Then the mill's off-shore owners decided they could save money by using up to 15% coal as supplementary fuel in the hog fuel boilers, leading to so far unresolved questions about jobs versus health. The new electrostatic precipitator was installed in July, and seems to be removing particulate well, but some local residents were surprised and upset to learn the TRS (smelly sulphur compounds) aren&Mac226;t affected.

And then came the leaks.

Leak#1: Four mill workers were taken to hospital after a sulphur dioxide leak July 31.
Leak #2: The next day a chlorine dioxide leak forced an evacuation of the mill.
Leak #3: An electrical failure allows escape of untreated effluent.

July 31: Four Norske Skog mill workers were rushed to hospital after inhaling sulphur dioxide during a chemical leak at the Elk Falls site. The accident happened when an instrument mechanic was installing a new gauge and tightened it too much. This caused a leak in the supply lines. Of the four taken to hospital, three were released from hospital the same evening and one spent the night for observation. Sulphur dioxide is capable of causing serious lung damage, and can be fatal in prolonged exposure. It dissolves in moist tissues, forming sulphuric acid - a highly corrosive substance.

August 1: The following day, the Elk Falls emergency response team scrambled once again. This time chlorine dioxide escaped when workers were replacing a faulty power source in the bleach plant control room. 800 employees were evacuated, with no injuries reported as a result of the leak. The gas was released when a short circuit cut power to the controls for the chlorine dioxide generator. The machine went into fail-safe mode, causing the system to dump chlorine dioxide into a containment tank. But there was no power to run the pumps on the tank, so it overflowed into the mill's sewer system. Chlorine dioxide is the most dangerous chemical handled at the mill.

August 16: Some 7,500 cubic metres of effluent escaped due to yet another electrical failure. During a routine annual cleaning of electrical equipment, one of the lightning arresters shorted out. The resulting power outage shut down the mill's effluent pump house, and the back-up power system failed. As a result, untreated effluent was discharged into the ocean. The Ministry of Water, Land, and Air Protection was notified immediately and the mill's emergency response team was put on standby as a precaution. Chemical control systems were shut down and isolated as well.

* Campbell River Courier-Islander, Campbell River Mirror, August 2001

Microbes are apparently dissolving the concrete in one of the four reactors in the Norske Skog Elk Falls UNOX secondary effluent treatment system. The Campbell River Mirror newspaper quoted environmental co-ordinator Chuck Easton as saying the engineers believe that "patches of microbes are trapping and sucking the oxygen out of sulphate particles. That leaves sulphuric [acid] behind which rots away at the concrete."

* Campbell River Mirror, June 2001

Pregnant female fish living within 2 kilometres of a large Swedish pulp mill had significantly more male embryos than their counterparts living farther away from the pulp mill. Researchers sampled embryos from female eelpouts (Zoarces viviparus). The four reference sites had 50 percent females while the two experimental sites closest to the mill had 42 (1.7 km north) and 45 (1.2 km south) percent female embryos. A sex ratio shift could skew future eelpout populations and affect the ecosystem since these fish are a main species. The researchers suggest the male-biased shift may be due to endocrine disrupting chemicals from the mill rather than temperature, pH, food, or social conditions.

* Larsson, DGJ, H Hallman, and L Forlin, 2000; Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 19(12):2911-2917.

Alberta's first coated paper mill may have died on the planning table after 10 years of ups and downs. The last straw was Grand Alberta Paper's failure to meet a deadline for filing an environmental impact assessment, despite last year's extension. The deal included rights to cut 500,000 cubic metres of wood a year from 10,000 square ks of forest in the Chinchaga area northwest of Peace River.

Ironically, the proposed mill was expected to be the cleanest mill of its kind in the world, according to the company. The plant was to have an "integrated zero liquid effluent chemi-thermomechanical pulp mill, "and the "highest value added per cubic metre of forest resources among Alberta producers."

* Edmonton Journal, August 2001, and Grand Alberta Paper

This July, Domtar became the first company in North America to receive the certification of Resource Manager from SmartWood (CM) - which is recognized by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The certification applies to Domtar's forest management practices in the Gilmour Forest near Trenton, Ontario, which it has managed for over 40 years. In April 2000, Domtar obtained a similar certification for its private lands in the State of New York.
Currently 2 million hectares or close to 25% of Domtar practices are certified. Domtar is Canada's largest producer of specialty and fine papers. Domtar manages close to 36 million acres of forest in Canada and the United States and owns 50% of Norampac Inc.

* Domtar Inc.

Boise Cascade faces an environmental impact study on an upgrade to their paper mill in International Falls, Minnesota. Boise is modifying its integrated pulp and paper mill, which manufactures white office paper, to increase annual production by 20% - equivalent to an additional timber consumption of 100,000 cords. The largest portion of the project is a $15 million improvement to the plant's recovery boiler to increase energy efficiency and burn sludge. As well, the upgrade will replace elemental chlorine gas with chlorine dioxide for bleaching.

Although air pollution issues exist (particularly from the National Park Service over more carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide and other pollutants), the chief concern is the increased demand on Minnesota forests.

* Duluth News Tribune, July 2001

Volume One of Chicago says an automated "vending machine" capable of laser printing and binding a normal-looking paperback will save publishers printing and shipping costs. The Perfect Book machines are the size of a deep freeze, and cost about $94,000.
* Vancouver Sun, July 2001

In an unprecedented collaboration, the Blue Ridge Paper Mill in Canton, North Carolina is working with an environmental coalition to clean up the neighbouring river. Together they are scientifically exploring the potential water quality advantages of chlorine-free bleaching technologies, particularly for reducing colour in the Pigeon River.

This latest investigation of bleaching brought together international pulp and paper expert, Dr. Norm Liebergott and a team of consultants, along with the environmental community, and management and union officials of the employee-owned company.

The study's most promising options include use of a second oxygen stage, or the use of ozone or peroxide in some bleaching stages. Such changes should reduce colour and are relatively affordable. The consultants did not recommend converting the mill to "totally chlorine-free" production for now, due to cost and possibly reduced pulp strength, but Dr. Liebergott points out that these technologies are developing quickly.

* Clean Water Fund of NC

A paper mill discharging hot water into Oregon's Willamette River has to adapt because the river is too hot for salmon. The Blue Heron Paper Co. has agreed to install fish screens, reduce waste water temperature, monitor the effects, and donate to local salmon conservation groups. Their operating permit is the first in Oregon to require a detailed temperature reduction plan to protect salmon.

* Eugene Register-Guard, May 2001

Pulp and paper mills emit 26 out of the 51 chemicals currently classified as CEPA-Toxic, according to a recent perusal of databases by Reach for Unbleached! The amounts emitted may be large volumes or very tiny amounts; they may end up in the air, land, or water.

CEPA-Toxic is the term for chemicals declared toxic under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act (CEPA). It's a made-in-Canada system &Mac247; innocent until proven guilty, and slow-moving in the extreme. With all the reports, scientific assessments, economic analysis of alternatives, and risk assessments required, it can take a decade or two for a chemical to get the designation. So far, 51 chemicals have earned this classification. There are, perhaps, a couple of hundred more that will eventually be added.

CEPA-Toxic substances are those which may enter the environment in a quantity or concentration or under conditions that:

• have or may have an immediate or long-term harmful effect on the environment or its biolgoical diversity (for example, endocrine disrupting chemicals);
• constitute or may constitute a danger to the environment on which life depends (ozone depleters)
• constitute or may constitute a danger in Canada to human life or health (air pollutants).

Once a chemical is declared CEPA-Toxic, the federal government has the power to limit the chemical's release to the environment. In most cases, that means the government requests voluntary measures from the polluters.

Chemicals released by the pulp and paper industry are:

1,2-Dichloroethane, Acrolein, Ammonia in the aquatic environment, Benzene, Bis (2-ethylhexyl) phthalate, Carbon Tetrachloride, Chlorinated wastewater effluents, Dichloromethane (DCM) (methylene chloride), Effluents from pulp mills using bleaching, Formaldehyde, Hexachlorobenzene, Hexavalent chromium compounds, Inorganic arsenic compounds, Inorganic cadmium compounds, Lead, Mercury, Nickel: oxidic, sulphidic and soluble inorganic nickel compounds, Nonylphenol and its ethoxylates, PM 10 and PM 2.5, Polychlorinated dibenzodioxins + furans, Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, Tetrachloroethylene (PERC), Acetaldehyde, Bis (chloromethyl) ether (BCME), Chloramines, and Hexachlorobutadiene.

* Delores Broten

After over a year of delay, and prodding from the Georgia Strait Alliance, West Coast Environmental Law, and Reach for Unbleached! the BC Ministry of Water, Land, and Air Protection finally released the latest non-compliance report for the province, citing 77 industrial and municipal violators who exceeded their permits to pollute.

Among them were six of the province's pulp mills: Norske Skog Elk Falls, Crofton and Mackenzie, Pacifica Papers Powell River, the Celgar mill near Castlegar, and Western Pulp at Port Alice. Minister Joyce Murray told the Victoria Times-Colonist that she sees the reports as part of increasing government's openness, and has asked her staff to release results in a "more timely manner" and possibly post information on the web on an "on-going basis.

The Ministry report, which covers an 18-month period from Oct. 1, 1999, to March 31, 2001, can be found at http://wlapwww.gov.bc.ca/epd/epdnon/index.html on the ministry's Web site.

A chart of pulp mill appearances on the report over the last six years is available on the Reach for Unbleached! Web page at: http://www.rfu.org/GetTech.htm

The Paper: Rolland New Life Dual Purpose
80% recycled content with 60% post consumer
80% Processed Chlorine Free (PCF) & 20% Totally Chlorine Free (TCF)
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The Price: $56.00 per case plus taxes and delivery

For more information phone (250)935-6992, Fax (250)935-6992 or dbroten@rfu.org

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