PORT TOWNSEND — The Port Townsend Paper Corp. plans to increase the amount of pulp it produces from recycled cardboard with the installation of a new machine in Port Townsend that would operate continuously.
The state Department of Ecology’s industrial section of the Solid Waste Management Program has determined that the new piece of equipment that turns recycled corrugated containers into pulp “does not have a probable significant adverse impact on the environment” and an environmental impact statement is not required under RCW 43.21C.030 (2) (c).
Because the proposed continuous pulper would be a new source of emissions, it is subject to review under the State Environmental Policy Act (SEPA).
“We have a draft permit in place, and the public comment period has begun,” said James DeMay, industrial section manager at Ecology.
“We encourage comments on either or both documents — the notice of construction draft order [for air quality] or SEPA findings. We will make a final decision with input from the public.”
The public will have until June 28 to comment on the SEPA determination.
Comments can be made online at tinyurl.com/PDN-paper millcomment or by mail to Shingo Yamazaki, Industrial Section, P.O. Box 47600, Olympia, WA 98504
For information on the project, see tinyurl.com/PDN-papermill.
If Ecology officials determine that there is a significant public interest, a public hearing will be conducted at 6:30 p.m. June 25 at the Fort Worden Commons B, 200 Battery Way, Port Townsend.
If the project is approved, installation of the new machinery will take place in during the mill’s annual maintenance shutdown at the end of October.
The pulper would replace the existing batch pulper that has not had any significant modifications since its installation in 1997, company officials said.
Because the new system would operate continuously, the plant would be able to regularly produce 50 percent more old corrugated container (OCC) pulp annually without modifications to the footprint of the plant or significant upgrades to material processing equipment, the company said.
According to the SEPA Environmental Checklist submitted by Port Townsend Paper Corp., emissions from the OCC pulper upgrade are below exemption thresholds and significant emission rates. There will be no change in odors expected from the project.
Odor from mills typically come from breaking down wood fibers using chemicals in a process called the kraft pulping process, they said, and this project is not connected to the kraft side of the business.
Due to the increase expected in truck deliveries, an outbound truck scale would be added to improve the logistics and traffic flow to and from the mill. And, due to more incoming raw materials, it is expected that there would be a four-trucks-per-day increase in present traffic on state Highways 19 and 20 and at Mill Road.
The project would result in 44 percent more landfill waste which is generated from the non-burnable OCC rejects which include tape and plastics that are separated from the OCC.
DeMay said Port Townsend Paper’s upgrade would make the process more efficient.
“Port Townsend Paper’s application will replace a repulping unit on the recycled side of the business,” DeMay said. “It takes recycled cardboard and makes pulp.
“This unit is more efficient, moving 480 tons to 720 tons a day through that line representing a 67 percent increase in production of the recycled material.”
DeMay said the application for air permits was reviewed and was below acceptable limits.
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Jefferson County Reporter Jeannie McMacken can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at jmcmacken@peninsuladailynews.com.
