Deborah StinsonPort Townsend City Council SURE does Love the Port Townsend Paper Mill. Why does Deborah Stinson turn a BLIND eye to pollution in the air and water of Port Townsend Washington, and NOW seems to be covering up a MAJOR Chemical Spill at the Port Townsend Paper Mill that is reported to have caused skin burns and other major health issues, yet Deborah Stinson is downplaying it, in order to protect the Port Townsend Paper Mill. Why?
Is Deborah Stinson being PAID Off by the Port Townsend Paper Mill?
It is reported that several large trucks left the Port Townsend Paper Mill and took discovery road, then went to 4 corners, to Chimacum, Washington then down center road to avoid the main roadways with hazardous waste.
It seems that the Port Townsend Leader is AGAIN lying, avoiding, or covering for the Port Townsend Paper Mill as they pollute the air, pollute the water, create MASSIVE toxic sludge and move it to other towns, farms, playgrounds and more. The Port Townsend Leader mis-states FACTS over and over, ignores tips, will not print FACTS and is constantly protecting, or I say aiding and abetting the Port Townsend Mill to VIOLATE air and water quality LAWS and endanger the residents of Port Townsend Washington.
What kind of Financial Kickback is the PT Leader, the Port Townsend City Council and Deborah Stinson
getting for enabling the Port Townsend Paper Mill to ENDANGER the residents of Jefferson County, Port Townsend Washington?
Got a TIP on the Recent Chemical Spill at the Port Townsend Paper Mill?
eMail your Tip to SavvyBroker@Yahoo.com
or leave a message at
406-570-1489
AMCOL Investor Relations, AMCOL International Corporation, makes the BIG Money from spewing TOXINS into the water and air of Port Townsend Washington, and sure seems to me to be ABOVE the LAW.
"
Entertainment to amuse the masses and delight the most jaded of carnivale officianado. Hijinx in store for the member-in-good-standing at our Boudoir Saloon, venues through the day, and the Steampunk Hootenanny Saturday night!
The Blue Crows, featured in the saloon, are an Early American Music group focusing on Ragtime, Blues and Jazz from 1900 through 1930. The band features John Morton an clarinet and George Rezendes on resonator guitar. Friday 7-10pm, Cotton Building. Admission to non-ticket holders is $10.
Master Payne, Steampunk sorcerer, will meanwhile be featured in the Pope Marine Buidling Friday 8pm. Payne has been skillfully entertaining audiences in and around the Pacific Northwest with his award winning magic show for over thirty-five years. Hurry, Hurry Hurry! Step right up and Witness the Marvel Of the Modern Age. You've heard about them on the radio, you've read about them in the magazines, now see one for yourself up close and personal. This is a real trooper and he again performs his feats of wonder Saturday 2:30pm and 7pm. Pope Marine Building. Admission to non-ticket holders is $5.
Velvet Revolution presents interactive sculptures, fortune telling, glass walking, fire dancing stilting and...? Look for the Oracle of anami Friday, Saturday and Sunday at the Pope Marine Park. Catch pyrotechnic phonetics at the tail end of the Salon on Friday. Join us outside during the intermission of the Hootenanny for more fantastic flaming fantasies Saturday night. Keep your eyes peeled for Impedimenta the 8 foot tall clockwork contraption doll!
Cellar Door Masquerade
Continue after the Boudoir Saloon on Friday evening with a special invitation. Join your new crew mates at the Brass Screw Masquerade Soirée from 10pm-1:30am at Cellar Door (940 Water St - entrance on Tyler St). Port Townsend’s newest underground restaurant and lounge features unique specialty cocktails, a few featuring Swiss and Czech absinthes, along with excellent wines, beers and ciders from the Olympic Peninsula and around the world.
Ticket holders will receive discounts on many of our beverages. Don your best accoutrements, masks, outfits and accessories, and hope to win our costume contest at midnight sharp! Cellar Door is an eclectic restaurant and bar offering food, beer, wine and cocktails. Enjoy primarily locally-sourced, seasonally available produce, meats, cheese and more, purchased direct from area farms and purveyors. Hosted in a unique ambiance blending romantic Victorian and rustic industrial décor, serving small plates and craft cocktails using house-made infusions, sodas, adjuncts and tonics. To salute the Brass Screw Conspiracy weekend, a pair of barrel-aged cocktails will be released along with a variety of specials for ticket holders.
Fashion Show
Out of the aether and onto the catwalk! Come one, come all and see chrononauts, time travelers and modern steamers strut their fantastical, contraptional styles for your pleasure and amusement. Come listen to the music and thrill to the varied array of hats and spats, leather and lace, bustles and brass and more. A fashion show to tickle the imagination and thrill the senses, brought to you by local merchants and fashion designers, as well as some designing folks from the far reaches of the Seattle area. Join us at the Uptown Theatre (1120 Lawrence St). The doors open at 11:30am Saturday and the show begins at High Noon. Admission to non-ticket holders is $5.
Black Pearl Cabaret KREEPSHOW is a fast-paced musical comedy depicted as cabaret absurdity most macabre. Presented at the Pope Marine Building (603 Water St) Saturday at 3:30pm. Admission to non-ticket holders is $5.
Magic Lantern Film Show
The movie madness is happening at the Pope Marine Building (603 Water St) Friday 9pm, Saturday 12:30pm and late night Saturday. Admission to non-ticket holders is $5.
“Dr. Grordbort presents, The Deadliest Game,” from New Zealand featuring scientific research, err, sport hunting in the untamed wilderness of the Venusian landscape. Produced by the Media Design School. Dr. Grordbort’s Infalliable Aether Ossilator; don’t leave the confines of Earth’s atmosphere without it!
“Arms Race: Escalation,” a webseries from the United Kingdom reimagining of the Crimean War had both sides enjoyed advanced Steampunk weaponry including robotic bugs and a thrilling airship battle.
“The Wars of Other Men,” an ambitious and stunning independent short film by director Mike Zawacki filmed in Detroit by a gifted, passionate volunteer crew. An immersive Steampunk-inspired period film set in a city torn apart by war.
Saturday Night Hootenanny
Saturday Night's Hootenanny at the American Legion Hall (209 Monroe St - entrance on Water St). Admission to non-ticket holders is $25. This is the culmination of our annual confederacy:
Mistress Jezebel Vandersnatch - MC
The Low Ones - low-fi what you want.
A delectable selection of dancing girls includign:
Sailor St. Claire
Mitzy Sixx
Sister Piston
Whisper De Corvo
Scarlett O’Hairdye
Sister Piston - nerdelicious dancing girl
Circus of Industry - All the clowns chaos and calamity a marching band with death rays can handle. Did we mention the deathrays?
Low Ones is comprised of Chris Gunn (vocals, guitar), Caveman Cyborg (guitar sounds & samples), Dave Hendrickson (stand-up bass) and Josh Dylan Peters (drums). They play an original spooky blend of rock, folk and spaced-out blues. With songs full of rocket ships, satellites, submarines, time travel and haunted Victorian houses, Low Ones music takes listeners on journey.
Sound and Fury Morris Dancing
While the gentry flirt with gentlemanly sciences and spend their silver on fancy gadgets with purported fantastical abilities, poor lads and lasses dig the coal that fires the fancy machiner. But never-you-mind, they have fun too, turning everyday objects into something right magical through the power of Morris dancing.
Queen Victoria’s diamond jubilee was so graced with Morris dancers – thus ensuring the protection the Empire and its continued stability. It will bring good luck, fertility, stability and longevity, and is also rumored to fend off attack by giant Pacific octopi, zombies, and other nefarious foe. Of course, this guarantee is only provided with sufficient quantity of good ale. On the green outside the Pope Marine Building (603 Water St). Sunday 1pm. Admission is free."
Seriously?? Judge Harper SAYS, "“I particularly want to be involved with young people.”
You have got to be kidding. Investigative Blogger Crystal Cox says, what a Line of BULL that is. This man is EVIL when it comes to the "young people".
Judge Keith Harper ignores threats to children, gives rights to non-blood family for no lawful reason, ignores convicted rapists having access to victims, and rules in an extremely disrespectful and misogynistic manner.
Judge Keith Harper chooses who he "likes better" and deems more "credible" vs. actually ruling in a manner that applies to LAW and the Constitution of the United States of America.
Judge Keith Harper is NOT for the rights nor the best interest of the "young people". Judge Keith Harper is the whipping boy to Attorney Peggy Bierbaum and the "young people" are the collateral damage to this "cozy" connection, conflicts of interest in my opinion.
"It was standing room only Jan. 11 for the swearing in ceremony of Keith Harper as the fourth Superior Court judge in Jefferson County history.
Harper won the four-year term with a November 2011 election victory over Peggy Ann Bierbaum. Judge Harper started work Jan. 14.
“My goal is to make the Superior Court here the best it can possibly be and be a team player with the rest of the county departments,” Harper said, emphasizing, “It’s very important that people feel what’s going on is fair at all times.”
Harper follows Craddock Verser, who was appointed to the office in March 2004 following the death of Thomas Majhan. Verser won two elections, and initially reported that he would seek a third full term, but changed his mind less then a week later after fully considering his health complications from pancreatic cancer diagnosed in 2011.
“When I realized I could no longer serve, [Keith Harper] immediately came to mind and I asked him if he would run and I would back him,” Verser told the audience at the Jan. 11 ceremony.
Harper was the City of Port Townsend attorney when Verser moved here in 1986, and Verser said he quickly learned that “he is a man of integrity which is extremely important when dealing with a lawyer in a small town."
Welcome, Judge Harper
Harper offered a long list of thank-you's, from his 2012 election opponents Bierbaum and Mike Haas, for running "positive and competitive" campaigns to his campaign managers, Bickie and Gary Steffan. He talked about lawyers who had helped shape his career, and expressed love for his wife of 33 and a half years, Jeinell, son Nick and daughter Melissa.
“Everything I’ve ever done in my life, my family and my extended family have always been very supportive of me,” Harper said. “I appreciate them very, very much.”
Harper's son, Sen. Nick Harper, D-Everett, spoke about his father.
“A father is [very] similar to a judge, I guess,” Nick Harper said. “And we couldn’t have been more fortunate to have that guidance throughout our childhood.”
Looking ahead
After being sworn in and donning his judge’s robe, Judge Harper named his three court commissioners to cover certain courts and fill in when he is out of county or has a conflict of interest.
“It goes without saying, all of these people are very intelligent,” Harper said.
The three new commissioners are Stephen Gillard, Richard Shaneyfelt and Harry Holloway III. Harper previously served as one of Verser’s three court commissioners, with Noah Harrison and Bierbaum.
Harper plans to be active in the county’s specialty courts, including drug court and juvenile court.
“I’m going to try to use the commissioners as little as possible,” he said. “I particularly want to be involved with young people.”
At the close of his remarks, Harper had some words of thanks and support for Verser, whose cancer treatments are ongoing.
“I wouldn’t be standing here now at the podium if it wasn’t for Crad Verser,” he said. “My family – all of our hopes and prayers – are with you.”
"'Dude Looks Like a Lady' show struts its stuff for Rhody Fest Saturday at Legion Hall
The “Dude Looks Like a Lady” show on May 11 is full of tremendous fashion ideas … well, OK, it’s full of fun and laughter and raises money for a good cause: the Rhododendron Festival Association. Admission is $5 at the door. The show is from 7 to 9 p.m., followed by an “after party.” The public is encouraged to attend and support their favorite “model.” Submitted photo
Steve Spencer, a veteran of all four "Dude Looks Like a Lady" fashion benefit shows, says his one piece of advice to first timers is “Don’t shave. We are still dudes, right?” Submitted photo
By Patrick J. Sullivan of the Leader
It’s not easy being a fashion-show dude – at least, a dude who looks like a lady.
The Rhododendron Festival Association hopes a big crowd turns out on Saturday to judge what is by no means the most artistic fashion show in town this weekend, but it should be the most hilarious.
Moving the fourth annual “Dude Looks Like a Lady” fashion show to the Marvin G. Shields Memorial Legion Hall downtown means two things: The venue is for attendees ages 21 and older, and the nonprofit association has a chance to make more money – future scholarships for Rhododendron Festival royalty – from the sale of refreshments."
"PORT TOWNSEND — Eleven days into his molting process, a juvenile elephant seal dubbed “Star” has become a downtown attraction.
“It was surreal,” said Ben Cook, a barista at Better Living Through Coffee, which is near where the seal has beached itself.
“His eyes would follow you around, and it seemed like he was mugging for the camera,” Cook said. “He didn't seem like he was scared of people at all.”
The juvenile seal arrived on the Adams Street beach May 3. Since that time, he has alternated between that location and another beach just south of Union Wharf.
On Friday night, Star changed his routine, moving onto the area in front of Better Living Through Coffee where the sand meets the pavement, according to Gabriella Ashford, who with her 11-year-old daughter Ella has monitored the seal's progress.
The Ashfords camped out in a van near the seal, attempting to protect Star and inform observers about keeping a proper distance.
Ashford said the seal stayed put throughout Saturday but moved late that evening after a rainstorm delivered water from an adjacent gutter onto the spot where the seal was sleeping.
“That woke me up, too,” Ashford said. “He wasn't happy. He made a lot of noises and moved onto the sidewalk to get out of the rain.”
He stayed in place until Sunday evening, when he went into the water and returned to the Adams Street beach.
Port Townsend Marine Science Center volunteers are tracking Star's path, stringing up yellow tape around wherever he stops.
AmeriCorps volunteer Danae Presler said it was unusual for molting seals to land in the middle of a town, saying “usually they are on a deserted beach somewhere.”
Presler said all elephant seals molt annually, and do so on land.
“It is rare for them to hole up in places where there is so much public activity,” she said. “People love him, and anyone who gets close to him wants to snap a picture although they are getting closer than what we would prefer.”
Presler said it was possible that Star would hang around downtown and attend next weekend's Rhododendron Festival. But he could just as likely move on.
“There is a lot of extra energy around him now. He may just leave and go somewhere else,” she said.
Presler did not have an age estimate but said Star weighs about 300 pounds and is approximately 5 feet long.
Presler said the molting process could take a month or more."
AMCOL International Corp. (NYSE: ACO) ~ Port Townsend Paper Mill, DIG Deep and See what your INVESTMENT Dollars are Really DOING in Port Townsend Washington.
Upon Knowledge and Belief Investigative Blogger Crystal L. Cox alleges that the Port Townsend Paper Corporation falsified bankruptcy documents, or so it seems.
It seems to me that the Port Townsend Paper Mill had to affirm, certify, as to whether they were knowingly harming the public or not, as a condition of their bankruptcy. Or if they thought this would change in the future See Attachment 1 on the document below ( Page 5 of 12).
Yet it sure seems to be that there is documented information that says the OPPOSITE. So is the Port Townsend Paper Corporation a "threat of imminent and identifiable harm to the public health or safety"? Well it sure seems that 1000 lbs of ammonia in the air, nitrates, overly alkaline water, 500 lbs of grease and oil daily is a harm to the public.
Upon Knowledge and Belief Investigative Blogger Crystal L. Cox alleges that the Port Townsend Paper Corporation did know of toxins in the air and water, and did know they were a public health risk, regardless of the politics of "National, state, and local authorities" called them out on it or not.
If in 2007 or before, the Port Townsend Paper Corporation was "aware" of any "threat of imminent and identifiable harm to the public health or safety", then it sure seems like they have committed fraud on the courts in what looks to be a MASSIVE amount of money in a federal bankruptcy proceeding.
So did Timothy P. Leybold or the Port Townsend Paper Corporation know any possible health risk, in 2007 when they signed this FEDERAL Document? I think so, but I hope not, as that sounds like indictment to me, just sayin'.
Port Townsend Paper Gets Bankruptcy Protection, meanwhile they are rolling in the dough and seem to be flat out lying about known toxins. Well, it sure looks that way to me.
PT Holdings Company, Inc.
Port Townsend Paper Corporation
PTPC Packaging Co. Inc.
Port Townsend Paper Mill Bankruptcy Consolidated with member cases PTPC Packaging Co Inc (07-10341) Docket
Were there lots of "little guys" with Olympic Peninsula families that the Port Townsend Paper Mill STIFFED in their big fat bankruptcy? How is it ok to take all those working families money, use their business and NOT pay them yet not have a job retraining program and SHUT DOWN THE MILL? Are the mill families more important then the families of the creditors that Port Townsend Paper did not have to pay in their bankruptcy? Or is all this a myth too?
Debtor
PT Holdings Company Inc, Lead Case: Consolidated with member cases PTPC Packaging Co Inc (07-10341) and Port Townsend Paper Corporation (07-10342)
"The Constitutional Right to a Healthy Environment"
"Do people have a right to clean air, safe drinking water, and a healthy environment? Fifty years ago, the concept of a human right to a healthy environment was viewed as a novel, even radical, idea. Today it is widely recognized in international law and endorsed by an overwhelming proportion of countries. Even more importantly, despite their recent vintage, environmental rights are included in more than 90 national constitutions. These provisions are having a remarkable impact, ranging from stronger environmental laws and landmark court decisions to the cleanup of pollution hot spots and the provision of safe drinking water.1
Environmental rights and responsibilities have been a cornerstone of indigenous legal systems for millennia.2 Yet the right to a healthy environment is not found in pioneering human rights documents such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948), the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966), or the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (1966). Society's awareness of the magnitude, pace, and adverse consequences of environmental degradation was not sufficiently advanced during the era when these agreements were drafted to warrant the inclusion of ecological concerns.
The first written suggestion that there should be a human right to a healthy environment came from Rachel Carson in Silent Spring, published in 1962:
If the Bill of Rights contains no guarantees that a citizen shall be secure against lethal poisons distributed either by private individuals or by public officials, it is surely only because our forefathers, despite their considerable wisdom and foresight, could conceive of no such problem.3
Similarly, in her final public speech before dying of cancer, Carson testified before President Kennedy's Scientific Advisory Committee, urging it to consider
a much neglected problem, that of the right of the citizen to be secure in his own home against the intrusion of poisons applied by other persons. I speak not as a lawyer but as a biologist and as a human being, but I strongly feel that this is or ought to be one of the basic human rights.4
The first formal recognition of the right to a healthy environment came in the Stockholm Declaration, which emerged from the pioneering global eco-summit in 1972:
Man has the fundamental right to freedom, equality and adequate conditions of life, in an environment of a quality that permits a life of dignity and well-being, and he bears a solemn responsibility to protect and improve the environment for present and future generations.5
In the four decades since the Stockholm Declaration, the right to a healthy environment rapidly migrated around the globe. As of 2012, 177 of the world's 193 UN member nations recognize this right through their constitution, environmental legislation, court decisions, or ratification of an international agreement (see Figure 1). The only remaining holdouts are the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, China, Oman, Afghanistan, Kuwait, Brunei Darussalam, Lebanon, Laos, Myanmar, North Korea, Malaysia, and Cambodia. Even among these laggards, some subnational governments recognize the right to a healthy environment, including six American states, five Canadian provinces or territories, and a growing number of cities.6
Regional human rights agreements recognizing the right to a healthy environment have been ratified by more than 130 nations spanning Europe, Asia, the Americas, the Caribbean, Africa, and the Middle East. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, the European Court of Human Rights, and the European Committee on Social Rights have issued decisions in cases involving violations of this right.
While international law plays a vital role in establishing norms and offering a court of last resort for human rights violations, the reality is that most of the action to protect and fulfill rights occurs at the national level. Within countries, a constitution is the highest and strongest law, as all laws, regulations, and policies must be consistent with it. A constitution protects human rights, sets forth the obligations of the state, and restricts government powers. On a deeper level, constitutions reflect the most deeply held and cherished values of a society. As a judge once stated, “A constitution is a mirror of a nation's soul.”7
Portugal (in 1976) and Spain (1978) were the first countries to include the right to a healthy environment in their constitutions. Article 66 of Portugal's Constitution states, “Everyone has the right to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment and the duty to defend it.”8 Since the mid-1970s, 92 countries have granted constitutional status to this right (see Figure 2). Constitutional law experts observe that recognition of environmental rights has grown more rapidly over the past 50 years than any other human right.9
Despite this progress, there is an ongoing debate about the scope and potential utility of the right to a healthy environment. Supporters argue that the potential benefits of constitutional environmental rights include:
Stronger environmental laws and policies
Improved implementation and enforcement
Greater citizen participation in environmental decision making
Increased accountability
Reduction in environmental injustices
A level playing field with social and economic rights
Better environmental performance
Critics, on the other hand, argue that constitutional environmental rights are:
Too vague to be useful
Redundant because of existing human rights and environmental laws
A threat to democracy because they shift power from elected legislators to judges
Not enforceable
Likely to cause a flood of litigation
Likely to be ineffective
Is the constitutional right to live in a healthy environment merely a paper tiger with few practical consequences? Or is this right a powerful catalyst for accelerating progress toward a sustainable future? The best way to answer these questions is by examining the experiences of the 92 nations where this right enjoys constitutional status.
Proving a clear cause-and-effect relationship is always challenging in the social sciences. However, new research demonstrates that the incorporation of the right to a healthy environment in a country's constitution leads directly to two important legal outcomes—stronger environmental laws and court decisions defending the right from violations (see Box 1). Evidence indicates that the other anticipated benefits of constitutional environmental rights also are being realized, while the potential drawbacks are not materializing.
Safety Net
In addition to providing an impetus for strengthening environmental laws, the constitutional right to a healthy environment has been used to close gaps in environmental law. Costa Rica and Nepal offer examples of courts ordering governments to enact legislation or regulations that would protect fisheries and reduce air pollution, respectively.16 The courts did not spell out the details of the laws but merely clarified that certain legislation is an essential element of fulfilling the government's environmental responsibilities. In other nations, courts issued carefully crafted judgments that did not compel but rather influenced states to take action (e.g., legislation governing plastic bags in Uganda, public smoking in India, and air quality standards in Sri Lanka).17
Courts are not always willing to fill legislative or regulatory gaps. The Supreme Court of the Philippines, despite agreeing that air pollution from motor vehicles was a threat to health, declined to order the government to convert all of its vehicles to compressed natural gas because it believed this would have interfered with legislative and executive responsibilities.18
Prevents Rollbacks
Another legal advantage flowing from constitutional recognition of the right to a healthy environment is that it may prevent the future weakening of environmental laws and policies (commonly referred to as rollbacks). Courts have articulated the principle, based on the right to a healthy environment, that current environmental laws and policies represent a baseline that can be improved but not weakened.19This concept is called the standstill principle in Belgium and is also recognized in Hungary, South Africa, and many nations in Latin America. In France, the principle is known as the “ratchet effect” or “nonregression.”20
Conclusion
The right to live in a healthy environment
continues to gain recognition.
New constitutions incorporating the right to a healthy environment were enacted in Kenya and the Dominican Republic in 2010, and in Jamaica, Morocco, and South Sudan in 2011. New constitutions in Iceland and Zambia, pending formal approval, include the right. A broad coalition of Zimbabwean civil society organizations has called for the drafting of a new constitution with a “justiciable Bill of Rights that recognizes civil, political, social, economic, cultural and environmental rights.”57 In 2012, the UN Human Rights Council appointed an independent expert to report on the universal right to a healthy environment.58
From Argentina to Zambia, something extraordinary is happening. In communities, legislatures, and courtrooms around the world, a new human right is blossoming from seeds planted decades ago. The constitutional right to live in a healthy environment represents a tangible embodiment of hope, an aspiration that the destructive, polluting ways of the past can be replaced by cleaner, greener societies in the future. While no nation has yet achieved the holy grail of ecological sustainability, the evidence indicates that constitutional protection of environmental rights can be a powerful and potentially transformative step toward that elusive goal. As Gus Speth, former dean of the Yale School of Forestry, recently stated, “I am very excited about the move to rights-based environmentalism. Lord knows we need some stronger approaches.”59
Maybe Port Townsend Washington could look into the UN Human Rights Council on the ISSUE of forcing the Port Townsend Paper Mill to STOP spewing toxins into the AIR that Port Townsend Washington residents breath.
Safe Water - A website about the on-going problems with Atlantic Packaging recycled paper sludge and the Ontario government's on again off again approval of its use as "Sound Sorb."
Letter To Minister Sawicki
February 16, 2000 Hon. Joan Sawicki Minister of the Environment Legislative Buildings Victoria, BC V8V 1X4
Dear Minister Sawicki:
Draft Three of the Pulp Mill Sludge Regulation and the Guideline for the Land Application of Pulp and Paper Mill Sludge will open the floodgates of land spreading of pulp mill sludge.
We urge you to prohibit any further spreading of pulp mill sludge until testing has conclusively proven that it is safe for people in communities, workers and the environment.
Why?
Pulp mill waste water contains a mix of hundreds of chemicals that harm the environment. In British Columbia we know this only too well, and it took years to get laws that made the mills install secondary treatment to clean up the effluent. Secondary treatment removes those bad chemicals from the water and puts them into the sludge. Now the Ministry wants to approve spreading toxic sludge on the farms, forests and parks of British Columbia.
No one knows all of the contaminants in pulp mill sludge. We do know that it contains a variety of heavy metals, benzenes and phenolics. We also know that other jurisdictions in North America that have experimented with spreading sludge have experienced unexpected problems, and frequently halt the sludge spreading programmes in a wave of citizen protest.
In 1998, when your Ministry finally agreed to commit $20,000 to independent testing of the sludge to find out what is in it and whether it could harm people or the environment, the Council of Forest Industries withdrew from the advisory table. Behind closed doors, your staff continued to draw up regulations to allow the sludge to be spread across the province. The only testing ordered in the Regulation is for chemicals listed in the Contaminated Sites Act. This is inadequate. The few tests available show a wide range of poorly understood chemicals, including a large amount of material that cannot be identified.
If the regulation is passed, BC citizens will have no recourse, no avenue to appeal when truck after truck of sludge is dumped in their communities. Workers will be forced into contact with the sludge that often contains harmful bacteria.
Minister, we urge you to be guided by the Precautionary Principle in this matter and order thorough testing and consideration by independent scientists before you open the flood gates to over 50,000 truckloads per year of this unknown material spread all over British Columbia.
British Columbia has suffered enough toxic pollution from kraft pulp mills. Let's stop this contamination before it start
Alberni Environmental Coalition, Port Alberni Biosphere Monitor, Quadra Island Canadian EarthCare Foundation, Kelowna Cariboo-Chilcotin Conservation Society, Williams Lake Comox Valley Naturalists Society, Courtenay Council of Canadians, Victoria Chapter Cortes Ecoforestry Society, Cortes Island East Kootenay Environmental Society, Kimberley Elliott-Anderson-Christian-Trozzo Watershed Committee, Winlaw FarmFolk/CityFolk Society, Vancouver Forest Protection Allies, Quesnel Fraser Headwaters Alliance, Dunster Friends of Clayoquot Sound, Tofino Friends of Cortes Island, Cortes Friends of the Slocan Valley, Victoria Georgia Strait Alliance, Nanaimo Granby Wilderness Society, Grand Forks Greenpeace, Vancouver Kaslo & District Environment Society, Kaslo Nelson EcoCentre, Nelson Ocean Voice International, Bamfield Okanagan Similkameen Parks Society, Summerland Qualicum Beach Environment Committee, Qualicum Beach Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada, Vancouver Reach for Unbleached! Vancouver Rivershed Society of British Columbia, Coquitlam Rogers' Environmental and Educational Foundation, Nanaimo Sierra Club of British Columbia, Victoria Sierra Club of BC - Quadra Island Group T. Buck Suzuki Environmental Foundation, Vancouver Thompson Watershed Coalition, Kamloops Silva Forest Foundation, Winlaw Valhalla Wilderness Society, New Denver West Arm Watershed Alliance, Nelson West Coast Environmental Law Association, Vancouver Western Canada Wilderness Committee
The BC Ministry of Environment Lands and Parks has issued Draft Three of a Sludge Regulation, which calls for some minimal testing of sludge before it is spread on farms, forests and parks. A further Ministry guideline on sludge handling and spreading warns that the sludge can contaminate ground water.
The pulp mills call it "bio solids." The government calls it pulp mill sludge. We call it Industrial Waste.
There has been no independent testing of this material to determine what's really in it. We do not know if this industrial waste causes genetic mutations or harms the hormone system of wildlife or people exposed to it. We do not know what gasses off the sludge to harm the workers who have to handle it.
What Is It?
Pulp mill sludge is a complex and changeable mixture of dozens or even hundreds of compounds, just like mill waste water. Some are well known, like heavy metals, dioxin and other organochlorines. Some, created by the bacteria in the treatment ponds, are probably unknown to science.
Environment Canada scientists in the Maritimes believe nonylphenol compounds are responsible for the decline in Atlantic salmon returns. We know that the pulp and paper industry uses one third of the nonylphenols in Canada, and we suspect these hormone disruptors wind up in sludge.
History of the Issue in BC
In 1994 a Kamloops farmer decided to experiment by feeding pulp mill sludge to cattle, until the Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada (PPWC) alerted the public. In 1996 a quiet rural neighbourhood near Krestova was upset when Celgar mill spread 80 tonnes of kraft sludge within 170 feet of a local well. The land was subsequently sold. In 1998 a neighbourhood near Quesnel BC was shocked to find Quesnel River sludge dumped on frozen land that sloped toward creeks and a local lake. The mill subsequently removed the sludge.
In 1996, the Ministry of Environment set up a Pulp Mill Sludge Advisory Committee that was to examine all aspects of pulp mill solid waste. Environmental groups like Reach for Unbleached! participated fully, repeatedly demanding that the waste material undergo testing before it was broadcast over the environment.
By 1998, when the Ministry of Environment agreed to do some independent testing, to see what really was in the sludge, the Council of Forest Industries (COFI) promptly withdrew from the committee, and the budget for testing was lost.
The Ministry produced the Draft Three Sludge Regulations and Guidelines in October 1999.
There has been some limited spreading of pulp and paper sludge in British Columbia under special approvals. Paper mill sludge is mixed with GVRD municipal sludge and spread on Scott Paper poplar plantations on islands in the Fraser River. Quesnel River Pulp spreads some of its sludge on farmland in the Quesnel area. Celgar kraft sludge has been spread on some orchards and agricultural land.
This regulation throws the doors wide open for over 50,000 truckloads of sludge per year to be spread in BC communities, with virtually no government oversight and no independent monitoring.
Widespread Concern
The Pulp, Paper and Woodworkers of Canada has called for sludge to be treated as regulated "toxic waste" until "the pulp and paper industry can supply verifiable and irrefutable proof (through valid scientific testing) that there are no ill side effects to the workers who handle these products"
The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is considering listing paper mill sludge as hazardous waste.
Ontarians have been complaining about the spreading of pulp and paper sludge for years. In 1999 the Ontario Environmental Commissioner wrote: "The applicants cite concerns about the contamination of soil, ground water and surface water, as well as impacts on livestock, wildlife and soil microorganisms. Many have also complained about odour, and symptoms such as headaches, burning eyes and breathing difficulties associated with freshly spread sludges."
The State of New Hampshire abruptly cancelled a mill sludge spreading program in 1998 after the discovery of unexpected toxic chemicals leaching into ground water. Additionally the state is now facing a lawsuit over the spreading of mill sludge that should have been classified as hazardous waste.
In Ontario a multi million dollar lawsuit has just been settled over the death of 43 acres of grapes where paper sludge had been piled in between the rows at Hernder Winery in St. Catherines.
What We Want
Rigorous and independent testing of pulp mill sludge
Prohibit the land spreading of pulp mill sludge until these waste materials are known to be safe in the environment
Eliminate known toxic contaminants, such as nonylphenols and chlorine compounds, from pulp mill processes
* Peter Ronald, Campaign Coordinator, Georgia Strait Alliance; www.georgiastrait.org; (250)361-3621; fax: (250)361-3682; Box 5591, Victoria BC V8R 6S4 Canada
* Delores Broten, former Executive Director, Reach for Unbleached, Box 39, Whaletown, British Columbia Canada V0P 1Z0
Scientific Literature on Health Impacts of Bioaerosols Maureen Reilly - February 2000
Maureen Reilly is an environmental researcher with Uxbridge Conservation Association, Ontario. She would like to hear from organizations or individuals who have experience or information about this issue.
There appears to be growing literature on the health impacts of bioaerosols in both indoor and outdoor environments. From the experience of affected individuals from Beaverton, Cornwall, and Sault Ste Marie, there appears to be growing evidence that some individuals are becoming impacted by bioaerosols from paper mill sludge.
This is a health concern since properties adjacent to large land application projects are often subjected to unincorporated sludge operations as often as twice a year. Unincorporated refers to the practice of top dressing, or leaving the sludge on the surface of the soil without mixing it into the soil.
Often sludge piles are left to decompose for months or even years, and when these piles are opened there is often powerful impacts such as burning of nostrils, and breathing difficulty.
Thus there are a wide variety of conditions under which sludge decomposes and can have a variety of on site and off site effects.
The sludges appear to support a wide variety of microbial growths, and further work should be done to characterize the types of growths that are present in the sludge in various stages of decomposition. Bioaerosols are also a concern in the composting of sewage sludges.
Reported effects including tightening of the chest and allergic reactions. There is some concern about mutagenicity, and acute toxicity as well. Much of the literature on bioaerosols reviews the heath impact on healthy male employees at composting sites. It does not capture the impact of these bioaerosols on subject populations living adjacent to sludge operations. These individuals may be elderly, immunocompromised from transplants, cardiac surgery, diabetes, or may be children or infants in poor health. These individuals are subject to the bioaerosols on a 24 hour a day, seven day a week basis. Unlike an affected worker, they have no recourse to remedies available to workers such as changing jobs or duties, nor are they eligible for Workmans Compensation for injuries they have suffered.
For these reasons, the Ministry of the Environment and the Ministry of Health should require land applied sludges to be thoroughly investigated for bioaerosols, including, mould and fungal growth, mycotoxins and endotoxins, under a wide variety of environmental conditions. There are health standards for the presence of such growths in the environmental health and safety field, and this literature can be used as a starting point for investigating the levels of such agents present in rural land application initiatives, especially in those areas where health impacts are suspected. "