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2009-12-03 at 10:15

Tembec, MOE reach agreement

By tbnewswatch.com
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Tembec has reached an agreement with the Ministry of Environment over the discharge of chemicals at the closed Marathon Pulp facility.

The mill was permanently closed in March. On Wednesday, an environmental review hearing wrapped up in Toronto with the endorsement of a settlement between the two parties.

An MOE spokesperson said that after extensive review, the Ministry will allow Tembec to proceed with discharging three million litres of chemical waste, known as black or green liquor, into an approved on-site spill basin.

The discharge will be subject to strict conditions, including spill kits on site, additional inspections and a $75,000 contingency fund supplied by Tembec.

The MOE says its scientific and technical experts are comfortable that the spill basin is secure, and that the general public and Lake Superior will not be impacted.

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Comments

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drummerboy says:
3 million litres? in a spill basin? where do the chemicals go from there? marathon people should be wild about this. cheap fix for tembec. does anyone trust anything that has ministry in front of it?
12/3/2009 3:22:25 PM
The Wolf says:
drummerboy - 3 Million liters sounds like a lot but the reality is it is not very much at all, its slightly less then 800,000 gallons or about the size of an Olympic swimming pool.

Not saying anything about the containment agreement pro or con but just letting you know that 3 million liters sounds like a huge amount but really it isn't
12/3/2009 4:21:49 PM
hamack says:
Why don't they sell it to a Pulp Mill at the cost of freight? I'm sure there is a way to pump it out of the tanks they're being held in.
12/3/2009 4:36:17 PM
hadenough says:
Wow, 3 million litres of black liquor into a spill basin. Did not the federal government just agree to allow the pulp and paper industry a rebate to burn this junk in the paper making process. How about making Tembec use it in their own mills that are running or send it to Terrace Bay Pulp. $75,000 in contingency, what a joke. Exactly what will this fund in the future regarding this amount of chemical, maybe a study to determine what to do later? This will only be postponing a headache for the future.
I doubt if this mill will ever open again, there should be some further assurances from Kruger/Tembec regarding the clean up of this site instead of letting them walk away leaving pocket change.
12/3/2009 4:39:10 PM
lake_guy says:
What an easy and cheap way to offload a problem! First, the spill basin is a couple of kilometres south of the mill. It is on the shore of Lake Superior. No one, with any resources, would be available to contain the toxins should a incident happen. What can a security guard sitting in a shack at the mill do? The town sits on sand - 3 million litres would trinkle through before anyone at the MOE would even know something's wrong. What happens next spring if Tembec wins its case that it doesn't have any responsibility for the millsite? Will the province promptly pay to remove and dispose of the worthless liquor (diluted with water)? Look at MOE's success rate in getting court action with Cascades regarding its cracked berm in Thunder Bay last month? More money is wasted on lawyers than fixing environmental issues. Maybe I'm fear mongering but my fingers are crossed.
12/4/2009 10:39:57 AM
lewie35 says:
I wonder how much tembec paid off the moe to get this okayed
12/5/2009 3:20:03 AM
drummerboy says:
hey wolf, you want 800,000 gallons of crap death in your water table? think about it.
12/5/2009 11:13:18 PM
The Wolf says:
drummerboy, I live within a few miles of Bowater, I already have more then 800,000 gallons of this product in my back yard.
12/6/2009 6:10:58 PM
pulpgal says:
After an extensive review with their scientific and technical experts this is what they came up with - oh my gosh!!
We know what the pulp mills did to our lake and most people were willing to live with it because it was "our bread and butter", this is no longer the case - don't flush it down the lake - my pharmacist doesn't want me flushing my meds down the toilet
Post it on ebay - "pick up only"
12/6/2009 11:55:06 PM
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