Abitibi looking into effluent problem

Mill forced
to shut down

The AbitibiBowater mill here was shut down indefinitely yesterday morning after a problem was identified at the company’s effluent treatment system.
Now the company must investigate the issue and report to the Ministry of Environment.
Jean-Philippe Cote, director of public affairs and government relations with AbitibiBowater, said yesterday from Montreal that the mill’s effluent treatment system at the lagoon exceeded its daily biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) limit due to the cold weather.
“Because of that, we had to shut down the mill to be in accordance with applicable laws and regulations,” he explained.
“We’re currently working with internal and external experts on the best plan to address the situation,” Cote added.
“It’s our intent to follow very closely all related laws and regulations,” he stressed.
Ministry spokesperson Kate Jordan said the company has informed the MoE of three exceedences of the daily effluent limit for BOD so far this month—one on Jan. 5 (reported on Jan. 12), one on Monday, and the one yesterday.
“In terms of the ministry’s involvement, the company is going to be preparing a report on the exceedence incidents,” Jordan noted.
“So they’ll send that to the Kenora area office for our review, and if there’s any follow-up needed, we’ll do that,” she explained.
“So they have alerted us, we are involved, and we are expecting that report.”
Jordan noted effluent testing is done both at in-house and off-site labs, and said Abitibi is conducting an internal investigation regarding its in-house lab.
“The lab that they used in-house showed different exceedence levels than the samples they sent off-site to a laboratory,” she remarked.
“So what the company is going to do because of that is conduct an investigation reviewing their in-house lab practices and any kind of quality assurance or quality control practices that need to be in place.”
Jordan said the MoE also has asked the company to do some additional monitoring at the plant.
Once the company completes the report, the MoE will review it. And if they need to follow-up with the company, they will, Jordan concluded.
Meanwhile, Cote said it’s not known how long it will be before the mill resumes operations or how many employees will be affected.
“Although the total workforce totals about 565 employees, we might need a working team in the time being,” he noted, referring to the possibility that not all workers will be off the job for the duration of the shutdown.
“Be assured that what’s happening is to make sure we are, and remain, in compliance with all applicable laws and regulations, and so everything was done with due diligence and at the right time,” he remarked.
“We are working hard on it to address the best plan.”