The clean up of millions of litres of industrial chemicals from the dormant Marathon Pulp Mill is now near completion.
Officials with former mill operators Tembec, say winter contingency plans have reached the final stages. The clean up of the chemicals, which are a by-product of pulp production, has been delayed by numerous problems since December.
Tembec project manager Bob Gregor said about 1.4 million litres of black liquor previously stored in on-site tanks have been trucked to the Abitibi Fort Frances Mill and the Clean Harbour Waste facility in Sarnia. Gregor said the remaining 270,000 litres of chemicals are now semi- frozen and will have to be stored on site until the spring when they can be safely removed.
Gregor said the 1.5 million litres of chemical effluent pumped from a pipeline and trucked to a nearby spill basin is also now near completion. That action was undertaken after a leak in the pipeline occurred in January forcing the company to vacuum out the line
Ministry of Environment officials confirm they have approved the actions and continue to closely monitor the situation.