THUNDER BAY — The Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks says it is still reviewing an incident at the Resolute pulp and paper mill this month that saw an increase in contaminants released into the Kaministiquia River.
The incident also caused the company to prolong an unscheduled shutdown of the kraft mill until the situation was normalized.
According to the ministry, the company notified it on Feb. 8 that it was experiencing operational issues in the kraft mill's wastewater treatment system.
Resolute advised that an unplanned shutdown of the mill on Feb. 5 had led to a temporary drop in the performance of the effluent treatment plant.
"As a result, there were higher than normal contaminant levels in the effluent discharge to the Kam River," a ministry statement said.
It said Resolute shut the kraft mill down to reduce the volume of effluent.
By Feb. 9, the treatment system began to stabilize, and the company was able to bring the mill back online by Feb. 12.
A spokesperson said the ministry required Resolute to provide regular updates on its efforts to address the issue until stabilization was achieved.
"The ministry is reviewing the incident and considering next steps, which may include regulatory action," the spokesperson said.
An official with Resolute said the initial, unscheduled shutdown of the mill happened after a "process upset" in the kraft mill.
During that outage, "extreme cold weather resulted in a shock to the kraft mill side of the effluent plant," he said.
The spokesperson said appropriate corrective steps were taken quickly to mitigate the impact on the effluent plant.
He said that although the site did experience elevated total suspended solids in the treated effluent outfall, this only occurred on Feb. 7.
"No spills to the Kaministiquia River occurred. All treated effluent from the complex went through a fully permitted and monitored outfall," the official added.
