Unit VI Scholarly Activity

A P P L I C A T I O N S A N D I M P L E M E N T A T I O N

http://mi tpress.mit.edu/JIE Journal of Industrial Ecolog y 107

© Copyright 2002 by the Massachusett s Institute of Technology and Yale University

Volume 6, Number 1

The Greening of a Pulp and Paper Mill International Paper’s Androscoggin Mill, Jay, Maine

Marquita Hill, Thomas Saviello, and Stephen Groves

Keywords

corporate social responsibility (CSR) kraft pulping pollution prevention (P2) public par ticipation pulp and paper industry toxics use reduction (TUR)

Address correspondence to: Marquita Hill Department of Chemical Engineering University of Maine 5737 Jenness Hall Orono, ME 04469-5737 , USA [email protected]

Summary

International Paper (IP), the world’s largest forest products company, owns the Androscoggin Mill, a large pulp and paper mill in Jay, Maine, in the nor theastern United States. This case study describes the transformation of the Androscoggin Mill from an object of public opprobrium and con�ict to a show- case for environmental management. In the late 1980s, an 18- month strike had embittered workers and townspeople and left the mill’s reputation in tatters. In response to mill environ- mental violations, some of which were considered crimes by state regulators, the town of Jay passed its own environmental ordinance to control mill emissions. Early in the 1990s, new management, including two former corporate-level employ- ees, sought to change the mill’s business approach and turn the Androscoggin Mill into IP’s best environmental performer. The initial emphasis on establishing and maintaining compli- ance was expanded to include aggressive pollution prevention effor ts that led to cooperative projects with the Maine De- par tment of Environmental Protection, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and stakeholder groups. The mill’s ap- proach in the 1990s evolved further to essentially follow prin- ciples of industrial ecology. New approaches focused on “clos- ing the loop” by �nding bene�cial uses for previously land�lled wastes, replacements for most hazardous chemicals, and re- ductions in solid and hazardous waste generation. The mill also pursued the establishment of symbiotic relationships with a facility that began using a mill by-product on-site and an on- site natural gas burning facility that provided par t of the mill’s steam demand. IP also established a public advisory committee in 1992 to advise management on operational and “big- picture” issues, which later included the application of sustain- ability criteria to the mill. IP has since formed community ad- visory committees at each of their integrated pulp and paper mills.

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Introduction

From 1965, when it was built, until 1986, In- ternational Paper’s (IP’s) Androscoggin Mill, lo- cated on the Androscoggin River in Jay, Maine, was a typical large pulp and paper operation. It was the economic mainstay for Jay, a community of 5,000 in western Maine, and was considered no better or worse than other mills. A strike that began in 1987 and lasted into 1988 greatly changed the company’s reputation, embittering mill workers and the Jay community. Environ- mental problems that had previously received lit- tle notice brought a quick and negative reaction. State and local authorities cited the mill for vi- olating land�ll and air emissions requirements. In July 1991 , �ve criminal indictments were brought against the mill, alleging misrepresen- tations in its wastewater license application and the burning of unlicensed waste. The mill’s abil- ity to continue operating was also at risk, as its land�ll was close to capacity at a time when it looked unlikely that it could obtain a permit for expansion.

Against this backdrop, the next decade saw a profound change in how the mill was managed; its relationship to its workers, the Jay community, regulators, and other stakeholders; and its envi- ronmental performance. In effect, IP’s worst per- former became its best. This article examines the drivers of change at the mill, speci�cally new management, the Jay environmental ordinance, the relationship of the mill with its regulatory agencies, and the activities of its public advisory committee (PAC). It shows the evolution of thinking on environmental issues as the mill be- gan with end-of-pipe control measures, initiated pollution prevention projects, began treating mill by-products as useful materials, and worked with colocated facilities in an industrial symbi- otic relationship (Ehrenfeld and Gertler 1997) to reduce or eliminate pollution. We explore the reasons for the establishment of a formal advisory process, the activities of the PAC, and its pro- gression from nuts and bolts issues to a focus on sustainability. The conclusions focus on how this transformation occurred and the nature of the drivers for change in both the early stages and as the company’s efforts matured in the 1990s on into the 2000s.

Background to Change

The Androscoggin Mill

At the end of 2001, the Androscoggin Mill employed about 1,200 people, 150 of whom were in salaried positions. The mill uses the kraft pulp- ing process to produce about 1,600 tons of mostly coated paper per day, plus some specialty-grade papers and dried pulp. Pulping is the process of taking wood �ber and turning it into the raw ma- terial for making paper, paperboard, and card- board. Appendix 1 describes the chemical pulp- ing process. The Androscoggin Mill has two Kamyr digesters, two recovery boilers, one waste- fuel incinerator, two limekilns, two bleaching lines, �ve paper machines, a ground-wood mill, and a �ash dryer. Pulp and paper mills are resource-intensive operations that can have a signi�cant impact on the environment (Servos et al. 1996; Springer 2000a).

IP, the mill’s owner, is based in Connecticut and is the world’s largest forest products com- pany, with about 117,000 employees worldwide. It is vertically integrated, owning the raw mate- rials (forests and wood lots), producing inter- mediates (pulp and chemicals), and manufactur- ing products for business and consumer markets. Its businesses include manufacturing printing pa- per, packaging, building materials, and chemi- cals.

Corporate Level In 1990, President George H. Bush estab-

lished the President’s Commission on Environ- mental Quality (PCEQ) to seek advice from the private sector on environmental issues (PCEQ 1990). IP and other major corporations were in- vited to become members. David Critch�eld, IP’s corporate director of regulatory affairs and recy- cling, typically attended meetings on behalf of John Georges, then chief executive of�cer. The PCEQ, staffed by Michael Deland, chair of the White House Council for Environmental Qual- ity, urged companies to integrate pollution pre- vention principles into corporate environmental programs, test new strategies, and share results. Several commission recommendations became relevant to the Androscoggin Mill:

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� Pursue pollution prevention projects � Form public participation groups in com-

munities where they operated and become more open to community involvement and input

� Take one facility and develop it into an environmental model, from which other facilities could learn

Most of the companies that adopted this last rec- ommendation focused on improvin g well- performing facilities. In contrast, IP chose to take its worst facility, the Androscoggin Mill, and make a conscious effort to turn it into its best.

New Mill Management In 1990, IP asked Larry Stowell, then a cor-

porate manufacturing manager, to become man- ager of the Androscoggin Mill. David Critch- �eld, in a September 2001 interview in Portland, Maine, said Stowell was basically asked to “turn the mill around and keep it out of the headlines.” He said that IP corporate policy as applied to all mills meant that “we will comply with regula- tions, period, and we will strive to minimize our environmental impacts.” In 1991 Thomas Sav- iello joined the mill as environmental superin- tendent and, in 1992, Stowell persuaded David Critch�eld to leave his corporate-level position and join the mill as environmental manager, su- pervising Saviello. The three immediately fo- cused on the need to set very high standards for the mill while, at the same time, working to en- gender the trust of regulators and the local com- munity. In�uenced by the PCEQ recommenda- tions, they took on the challenge of making the Androscoggin facility, still reeling from viola- tions and criminal indictments, into IP’s model of environmental excellence. Also, as suggested by the PCEQ, they formed a PAC to provide an outside source of perspective that might help the mill mitigate the negative perceptions of the me- dia and others. The PAC, however, chose to stay out of the public domain and evolved in its own way (see below).

David Critch�eld described his approach to the Androscoggin Mill as systematic, regularly consulting a text on systems analysis (Church- man 1968): “To approach something as compli- cated as a paper mill, you have to be systematic.

Otherwise you would �nd yourself trying to move in all directions at once. Too many problems needed a solution.” Of necessity, his �rst priori- ties were improving a terrible safety record and bringing the mill into compliance with environ- mental regulations. Saviello had already reorga- nized the mill’s environmental department, hir- ing specialists in air, water, hazardous waste, and solid waste to mirror the regulatory structure of the Maine Department of Environmental Pro- tection (DEP).

The Early 1990s

The Jay Ordinance

As a result of citizens’ poor regard of mill en- vironmental performance, the town of Jay insti- tuted its own environmental ordinance, subject- ing the mill to more restrictive local regulations along with those already established by the state and federal governments. This local ordinance became a driver of change when it required more monitoring wells for the mill land�ll than re- quired by the state and mandated the adoption of technologies that were not required at other kraft mills. For example, the mill installed a re- generative thermal oxidizer in 1994 at the town’s behest to capture and destroy odorous chemicals. Subsequently, the U.S. Environmental Protec- tion Agency (U.S. EPA) has adopted a regula- tion that requires such emission controls by 2006.

Gaining Employee Cooperation

In a large pulp and paper mill, management of complex environmental programs requires the support and participation of workers and man- agers. This was dif�cult in an environment in which workplace communications were still poor after the strike and mill environmental infrac- tions remained common. The recovery boilers were averaging 56 opacity1 incidents a year. The incidents resulted from a lack of consistency in controlling boiler operations and recognizing which conditions would lead to an infraction. The number of opacity incidents began to de- cline when department managers, who had to re- port the infractions, began backing up repeated

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environmental staff requests for action and when each member of the boiler staff was given control over a speci�c section of equipment. As each came to know a section well, they developed the skill to maintain proper conditions. Later, exter- nal recognition, such as the governor’s Pollution Prevention Award and IP’s Corporate Award for Environmental Excellence, maintained em- ployee motivation. Further improving perfor- mance and communications, staff also recognized that a failure to control one section contributes to control failures elsewhere. Recovery boiler opacity infractions dropped to zero.

Changing Relations with the Maine DEP

Although the new management team began to get the mill under control, exceedences of li- cense limits of various types still occurred in 1992, and the mill continued to pay �nes to set- tle earlier violations. But examples surfaced that demonstrated changing attitudes. One was to re- move the lawyers previously standing between the mill and the Maine DEP: Saviello had ini- tially taken lawyers with him to meetings at the Maine DEP, and the lawyers took charge of the meetings, a practice to which DEP personnel re- acted with animosity. In an attempt to better re- lations, Stowell told Saviello in 1991 to stop in- viting lawyers. This approach initially felt very different to Saviello, but he became increasingly comfortable with direct discussions with DEP personnel. And, as seen below, mill relations with DEP did improve.

Evolving Approaches to Managing Environmental Performance

Beginning at the End of the Pipe

To make wood pulp suitable for paper, mills must remove the lignin that binds cellulose in the �bers (Appendix 1). Lignin and other or- ganic materials that end up in wastewater con- tribute to biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), a major pollutant produced by pulp and paper mills (Springer 2000b) . Because of water-quality con- siderations, the Maine DEP Water Bureau issued a wastewater license in 1991 to the mill limiting

BOD releases to the river to 10,500 lb/day, a level more than 2 times as restrictive as federal re- quirements. Although mill personnel did not be- lieve that this limit could be achieved, they — again bypassing lawyers’ advice —accepted the invitation of Stephen Groves, then director of the DEP’s Water Bureau, to work collaboratively to solve the problem. The mill implemented a number of Maine DEP suggestions, including the installation of dozens of aerators in the waste- water treatment lagoon to achieve higher dis- solved oxygen levels and promote greater micro- bial degradation of the BOD. The collaboration proved successful, as the mill quickly reduced BOD discharges to meet the permit and achieved a consistent level of approximately 4,000 lb/day or lower through 2001 (�gure 1).

Moving up the Pipe

Mill and Maine DEP engineers formed an “environmental quality team” in 1992 to identify pollution prevention opportunitie s (Springer 2000d). One concern of the team was the impact of pulp-bleaching processes on emissions. Mill staff introduced two process changes in response to team recommendations that bleaching be minimized by reducing lignin in pulp (Springer 2000b). The mill combined extended deligni�- cation, which involved cooking wood chips for a longer period at lower temperatures, while maintaining pulp yield and quality (McDonough 2000), and oxygen deligni�cation, treating pulp with high-pressure oxygen (Sjostrom 1981), to reduce lignin content and required bleaching. The result was lower quantities of adsorbable or- ganic halide (AOX) (chlorine-containing by- products formed during bleaching) compounds, dioxin, and furan in the mill’s ef�uent and low- ered chloroform emissions to air and water. Di- oxin, furan, and chloroform emissions were ul- timately eliminated follow ing the mill’s conversion to 100% chlorine dioxide bleaching2

in 1995 (see Table 1). Additional pollution prevention projects re-

sulting in process changes continued in 2002 in conjunction with the mill’s two U.S. EPA XL projects.3 Although several pollution prevention efforts, such as extended deligni�cation/oxygen deligni�cation, were not unique to this mill, the

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Figure 1 Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) loss to mill ef�uent (pounds per day).

XL projects resulted in the development of new technological approaches to pollution preven- tion. Indeed, one criterion that U.S. EPA uses to judge XL projects is the likelihood of developing technology that is transferable to similar facili- ties. The use of a computer model of the mill’s waste-fuel incinerator developed under the di- rection of Thomas Saviello prompted process changes that to date have reduced particulate emissions by 50%. In the second XL project, the mill began modifying production processes to re- duce spent liquor in wastewater, which can affect ef�uent color and chemical oxygen demand.4

Both XL projects involved a stakeholder team as well as a technical team, the latter including paid consultants.

Addressing Pollution through Supply Chain Management

Tests in April 1998 by the mill revealed that the concentration of mercury in upstream river water was 6.5 parts per trillion (ppt), whereas the ef�uent concentration was 19.2 ppt. Investiga- tion revealed two contaminated feedstocks. One was alkali purchased from a chloralkali plant us- ing a mercury process. The mill found a supplier

that did not use the mercury cell process. The second supply chain issue was the mill’s purchase of sulfuric acid from a Canadian lead smelter that converted its captured sulfur dioxide emissions to sulfuric acid, with mercury as an unintended con- taminant. The mill switched suppliers to pur- chase uncontaminated sulfuric acid from a nickel smelter. By August 2000, without end-of-pipe control, ef�uent mercury was reduced to 3.4 ppt, equivalent to the river background of 3.9 ppt (�gure 2).

Toxics Use Reduction

Although it requires only reporting of toxics use and hazardous waste generation, the Maine Toxics Use Reduction Act was the initial driver in identifying opportunitie s to eliminate or at least reduce the use of hazardous substances in a variety of operations. The use of elemental chlo- rine, transported by tank car into the mill over most of its operating life, posed an ongoing dan- ger to workers and the community if a leak de- veloped. By 1995, the mill completed a switch to 100% chlorine dioxide bleaching. Chlorine di- oxide also poses a risk, but because it is generated on-site as needed, the risk associated with trans-

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Table 1 Mill pollution prevention example

Year AOX and dioxin discharges to ef�uent

Dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) 1988 88 pg/L 1996 Nondetecta and remains sob

Furan (2,3,7,8-TCDF) 1988 420 pg/L 1997 Nondetect and remains sob

AOXc 1994 1.44 lb/ton bleached pulp/day 2000 0.52 lb/ton bleached pulp/day

a Nondetect is less than 10 pg/L. b Neither dioxin (2,3,7,8-TCDD) nor furan (2,3,7,8-TCDF) are detected in the bleach-plant ef�uent where, if present at all, they would occur at the highest concentration. c Adsorbabl e organic halide, chlorine-containing by-product s formed during bleaching.

Figure 2 Mercury in mill ef�uent (nanograms per liter).

portation and the use of large quantities is sub- stantially lessened. Another product, Nalco Chemical Co. TRI-ACT 1804, used to inhibit corrosion in recovery boiler tubes, contained the hazardous chemical cyclohexylamine. This was replaced with a proprietary Nalco product (TRI- ACT 1826) not containing any hazardous con- stituents.

The mill also replaced two hazardous products that had provided nitrogen and phosphorus nu- trients to promote the growth of microorganisms that degrade organic materials in mill wastewater (Springer and Maxham 2000). Anhydrous am- monia as a source of nitrogen was eliminated be- cause of Jay of�cials’ concerns about shipping

safety and U.S. EPA’s requirement for risk man- agement planning (U.S. EPA 2001). It was re- placed with the much less hazardous nitrogen- containing chemical, urea. Use of phosphoric acid as a source of phosphorus declined 57% be- tween 1993 and 2000 as a mill team progressively reduced the amount added to the lowest level that would still suppor t optimal microbial growth. Additional reductions occurred when the mill switched to a single product that blends urea with ammonium polyphosphate, eliminat- ing the phosphoric acid use in this application.

Mill efforts to reduce hazardous waste gener- ation included greater attention to preventing caustic liquor spills, the substitution of barium

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Figure 3 Hazardous waste disposal (thousands of pounds per year).

chloride with a nonhazardous chemical for use in a titration analysis (eliminating 7,000 lb of haz- ardous waste each year), screening of paint prod- ucts before purchase to avoid hazardous constit- uents, and purchasing low-mercury �uorescent bulbs to minimize hazardous waste generation when relamping. These and other actions re- duced hazardous waste generation from a high of 60,000 lb in 1990 to a low of 3,260 lb in 2000 (see �gure 3).

Changing Approaches to Wastes

Pulp and paper mills generate a large variety and quantity of wastes (Springer 2000e), much of which may be land�lled, including tree bark, �ume grit (dirt and contaminants carried with logs into the mill), sludge from wastewater treat- ment, green-liquor dregs and lime mud,5 wood knots and screenings,6 mill garbage, and some waste metal and paper. In 1988, the mill operated an on-site land�ll that averaged 1,643 cubic yards (yd3) of new waste a day and was close to capacity. Intensive efforts at recycling, pollution prevention, incineration, and bene�cial reuse re- sulted in average daily land�ll rates in 2001 of 150 yd3, a 91% reduction (�gure 4). Mill pro- grams included the following:

� Recycling wood, metals, and paper � Compacting nonrecyclable paper into

burnable pellets � Improving limekiln operations to allow �r-

ing of all lime mud produced � Selling �ume grit to a contractor that pro-

cessed it into landscape material (similar to peat or perlite used for potting media and erosion control)

� Burning bark and sludge and incorporating the ash into AshCrete, a product devel- oped at the mill (see below)

� Incorporating green-liquor dregs into AshCrete

Sludge and Ash The Androscoggin Mill produces about 10%

of the 1 million tons of sludge produced each year from wastewater treatment plants at Maine’s pulp and paper mills. Sludge use on IP timber- lands as a soil supplement was discontinued be- cause of the high cost of transporting sludge that was only 40% solids by weight (Springer 2000e). Adjusting the waste-fuel incinerator allowed all sludge except for that used as land�ll cover (where it replaced virgin clay) to be burned. A portion of the mill ash is shipped to a contractor

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Figure 4 Solid waste land�lled (cubic yards per day).

in Unity, Maine, which uses it in composting municipal sewage sludge for farm application.7

Most ash from sludge and bark incineration, however, is incorporated into a product called AshCrete, developed in 199 8 by Stephen Groves.8 A contractor makes AshCrete on-site from ash, green-liquor dregs, and other proprie- tary by-products. For the next 15 years, all of the AshCrete is expected to be used to reduce the size of the wastewater lagoon, which had been designed and built when the mill produced sub- stantially more BOD. Approved by the Maine DEP, AshCrete use negates the need to purchase gravel to �ll the lagoon. The DEP also approved the use of AshCrete in closing the mill land�ll and as a subbase for a concrete pad. Two southern IP facilities also now produce AshCrete with a somewhat different formula. They use it as a berm and dike material and, similar to the An- droscoggin Mill, to recon�gure or close waste- water treatment lagoons.

Facilities Colocated with the Androscoggin Mill

Much like Kalundborg, Denmark (Ehrenfeld and Gertler 1997), a small “industrial ecosystem” has evolved slowly around the mill, with several

companies locating facilities at the site to take advantage of by-products and market opportu- nities.

� Specialty Minerals, Inc. produces precipi- tated calcium carbonate (PCC) by reacting carbon dioxide with calcium oxide in a proprietary process. Specialty Minerals needed a source of carbon dioxide and an outlet for PCC and set up operations at the mill in 1997 using carbon dioxide emis- sions from a limekiln.9 In return, the mill buys PCC at an attractive price and elim- inates transportation costs.

� A contractor operates an on-site facility owned by the mill to process the ash pro- duced from burning mill sludge and bark into AshCrete.

� Androscoggin Energy is a natural-gas burn- ing facility, generating electricity with high-temperature steam (sold off-site) and selling low-temperature steam to meet a portion of the mill’s needs. The mill boil- ers, which had burned number-six fuel oil containing 1.8% sulfur, went into standby mode, resulting in lower sulfur dioxide, ni- trogen oxides, particulate, and carbon di- oxide emissions. (Mill recovery boilers,

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which burn spent pulping liquor as part of the chemical and energy recovery opera- tions, along with the waste-fuel incinera- tor, furnish the rest of the mill’s steam needs, as well as providing electricity.)

The Public Advisory Committee

Members, Mission, and Early Challenges

In developing a PAC in 1992, IP followed through on a recommendation of the PCEQ. The PAC originally de�ned its mission as to “ . . . help identify environmental issues the Androscoggin Mill must address, and proactively assist in choosing the options. This will be accomplished by developing trust and respect for each other.” By 2000, members expanded that mission to “. . . act as a public board to identify and respond to the environmental, social, economic, and community issues that the Androscoggin Mill must address, and proactively assist in choosing sustainable options.” According to David Critch- �eld, the mill in 1992 sought members who “would not pull punches, but who also had a strong constructive side.” Members included en- vironmentalists, forestry and business experts, a mill customer, and a member of the mill’s hourly staff (table 2). Initial PAC meetings included the mill environmental manager, its environmental superintendent, and frequently the mill manager. (The current mill manager, Michael Craft, has attended all recent meetings.) Subsequently, the mill engineer responsible for developing energy conservation and ef�ciency measures became a regular participant. The PAC also hears from other mill personnel as necessary.

A major challenge to the PAC in early years was to understand mill operations, environmen- tal matters, and issues associated with local, state, and federal agencies. To assist in the challenge of dealing with a substantial amount of infor- mation, the PAC developed a report card with data on ef�uent quality, solid waste generation, energy and water use, and process- and energy- related air emissions (including carbon dioxide). The report card also provided comparisons with the previous month, license limits, and annual goals and provided a focus and data to help moni-

tor performance. The mill used the report card as a way to monitor itself by putting the goals and progress in constant view. The mill also used it on occasion with customers to demonstrate the mill’s environmental commitment.

An ongoing discussion at early meetings cen- tered on the town of Jay and its environmental regulations. PAC members strongly advised the mill to accommodate Jay’s concerns, to make a strong effort to establish a working relationship with Jay, to be candid in all dealings with the town, and to not see it as an adversary. Over the years, the relationship with Jay became positive. Jay citizens served on the PAC and Project XL stakeholder teams. They also served on the col- laborative stakeholder team formed for relicen- sing the mill’s dams, and the team developing the mill’s federally mandated risk management plan. The Jay ordinance was a driver of early change, but, over time, the impetus for change increas- ingly came from the mill. The ordinance re- mained in existence, but the PAC did not deal with compliance issues after the �rst few years.

Moving beyond Compliance Over time, PAC members began to think be-

yond issues of compliance to sustainability issues. In particular, because a pulp and paper mill is not viable without a sustainable wood supply, PAC members began considering mill wood supply. Where did it come from, and what was the con- dition of the forests supplying it? Did loggers practice responsible forestry? Because IP forests are administered separately from the mill, the PAC invited forestry personnel to its meetings, and members also visited some of IP’s forests. IP follows the Sustainable Forestry Initiative (SFI) standards of the American Forest and Paper As- sociation10 (AFPA 1994) and was the �rst Amer- ican forest products company to earn ISO 14001 certi�cation of its forest management system.11

IP forestland supplies barely 20% of the An- droscoggin Mill’s �ber requirements, however, because most wood goes to higher-value uses, es- pecially lumber. The other 80% of the wood comes from independent loggers, who must com- plete SFI training and agree to abide by SFI stan- dards. Some loggers have chosen not to provide wood to the mill because of these requirements. In other cases, the mill has refused to buy wood

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Table 2 Public advisory committee members, 2002

Member Af�liation and location

Deborah Burd* Western Mountains Alliance, Farmington (regional sustainable community development)

Harold Burnett Two Trees Forestry, Winthrop (forestry consulting) Richard Cormier Franklin Savings Bank, Jay Carla Dickstein Coastal Enterprises, Inc., Wiscasset (community development) William Harlow Androscoggin Mill (hourly employee) and Jay Planning Board, Jay Marquita Hill* Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Maine, Orono Donald Hopkins* Hearst Corporation, New York City (mill customer) David Kraske† Retired University of Maine professor and paper-company executive,

Canton, Maine Patrick Flood IP, regional forestry operations Daniel Sosland* Environment Northeast and environmental lawyer, Rockport

* Members who served since the inception of the PAC in 1992. Sosland served as chair since shortly after the inception of the PAC.

† Kraske did not work for IP.

from loggers they believe are in violation of SFI standards. Although PAC members were basi- cally satis�ed that IP was genuine in its efforts to maintain sustainable forests, they continued to follow the topic closely. Among the PAC mem- bers was an independent forester; and to further assist the PAC in its efforts, the manager of IP’s regional forestry operations became a PAC mem- ber in 2001.

Valuing the PAC

IP’s policy is to have a PAC at each of its integrated pulp and paper mills. Except for the Androscoggin PAC, other committees are com- munity based. Committees provide a means for IP to promote an understanding of how the com- pany operates, in the belief that knowledgeable communities will be more supportive. Environ- mental staff at the Androscoggin Mill viewed the PAC as helpful in the internal effort to under- stand the mill’s environmental performance and to identify issues that might otherwise be missed. PAC members brought a different set of perspec- tives to these issues, avoiding “group think” that can blind internal staff to critical problems. The PAC was also a means of bringing external ac- countability to the mill, which can reestablish a “franchise to operate” when it is threatened, as it was in Jay.

PAC members found it rewarding to have

contributed to the positive changes at the An- droscoggin Mill. Other values important to members were opportunities to delve into mill issues and obtain a greater understanding of the complexities often involved, seeing how the mill operates, how management works, and sharing perspectives and information among themselves and between the PAC and mill administration. At another level, some organizations, including the University of Maine, see participation in an activity such as a PAC as part of its public service mission.

At the Androscoggin Mill, the PAC’s role be- gan to change in the late 1990s. Providing feed- back and assistance on compliance and pollution prevention was no longer central. The mill was well run and well regarded. PAC members began to turn to the longer-term issues and quickly came up with a dif�cult set of questions: How do PAC members de�ne sustainability and effec- tively discuss it with the mill? How does the PAC tell the mill that it should be setting higher goals, requiring a greater stretch to reach them? What is an appropriate level of natural resources for the mill to use and how can it get there? And how can the mill get corporate authorization for more environmental capital investments?

In April 2002, the PAC was disbanded. Mill management believed that it had ful�lled its mis- sion. Moreover, it felt a need for a local com- munity advisory committee whose major purpose

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would be to promote good communication with the Jay community. It expects to start a com- munity advisory committee in the summer of 2002. To minimize bias in member selection, the mill will hire a contractor to recommend mem- bers. PAC members supported management’s de- cision while also voicing regret. Members be- lieved they served as that “extra pressure” pushing for positive change. But they also be- lieved that the mill has come so far that, espe- cially with its image of environmental leader, it was unlikely to backslide. Additionally, there is a continuity of environmental staff, and Michael Craft (mill manager since 1999) comes from an environmental management background. More- over, XL projects are still ongoing, and two PAC members are participants in those committees. The mill is also part of the U.S. EPA Star Track Program (U.S. EPA Star Track Program 1997).

Discussion and Conclusions

Although crisis stimulated change at the An- droscoggin Mill, the outcome could have been less positive. Critical to the successful outcome was the IP corporate decision to �nd capable in- dividuals and charge them with turning the mill around. The early leadership in this effort fo- cused on making the Androscoggin Mill the best facility at IP. They were willing to risk giving the Maine DEP greater access to the mill, to form a PAC, and then to be responsive to both. External demands on the mill, especially in the early 1990s, played a critical role as well. Jay’s envi- ronmental ordinance, highly unusual for a small community, was a signi�cant driver for change, along with the town’s unremitting pressure on the mill.

The mill, after its success in reaching out to the DEP, to the PAC, and increasingly to Jay, continued its outreach by forming collaborative projects, as when it relicensed its dams on the An- droscoggin River in the mid-1990s and the U.S. EPA XL projects, which continue into the pres- ent. Each had membership from inside and out- side the mill, from Jay, and from stakeholders outside the immediate community. Although stakeholders had different perspectives, all held a common interest in the success of the project with which they were involved. Thus, many peo-

ple came to care about mill success: employees, PAC members, Jay citizens, the Maine DEP, U.S. EPA personnel, and members of participating nonpro�t organizations. Rather than simply �nd- ing fault with the mill, these collaborative efforts brought a sense of collective investment to �nd- ing solutions.

The PAC’s contribution to the mill’s environ- mental successes was substantial if not public. Its access to current environmental data provided a means to constantly challenge the mill to im- prove. Relatively little turnover in the PAC meant that members were in a position to press mill management if change on a particular issue seemed too slow. Conversely, the turnover in mill managers (four in the PAC’s �rst decade) created some confusion and delays. The tenure of envi- ronmental staff, however, helped smooth transi- tions and provide some constancy in the inter- face between the PAC and the mill.

The environmental improvements at the An- droscoggin Mill did not emerge from a formal system, but important elements of a systems ap- proach were in place. The mill bene�ted from a combination of talented individuals with vision, support, and pressure from within and outside the mill and hard consistent effort. This case dem- onstrates the value of management developing long-term goals and a framework for change, built on high standards and a desire to gain the trust of regulators and the community that lead to environmental excellence.

Acknowledgments

We dedicate this article to the memory of Pe- ter Bernard, public advisory committee member 1993 – 2000, Androscoggin Mill employee, and Jay Planning Board member. We are grateful to Mill Manager Michael Craft and to public ad- visory committee members for their patience with the development of the chronicle from which this article is derived and the slow evo- lution of this article. We thank Androscoggin engineers John Cronin and Vickie Gammon for information and assistance in plotting data and David Critch�eld (now CEO of EMSource, Port- land, Maine, USA) for assistance in reconstruct- ing events. Marquita Hill thanks the University of Maine, Orono, for travel assistance and John

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Hassler and Adriaan Van Heiningen for valuable advice. She thanks her fellow authors for their decade of un�agging effort: for persistence, cour- age, and responsiveness and for zest, creativity, and surety that any problem can be solved.

Notes

1. Opacity is an optical measure of particulat e emis- sions.

2. The mill has not calculate d chloroform emissions since 1995, when it completed the switch to 100% chlorine dioxide bleaching. The National Council for Air and Stream Improvement of the pulp and paper industry indicates that chloroform is not formed in 100% chlorine dioxide bleach- ing, a conclusion accepte d by both the U.S. EPA and the Maine DEP. The procedure for calculat - ing chloroform emissions is given in the NCASI Handbook of Chemical Speci�c Informatio n for SARA Section 313 Form R Reporting Chemical- Speci�c Information for Chloroform: Section 3.1 Manufacture the Toxic Chemical. This reference is updated yearly.

3. U.S. EPA XL projects are designed to enhance environmental protectio n while introducing reg- ulatory �exibility and innovative environmental approaches at exemplary facilitie s (U.S. EPA XL Projects 2000).

4. Chemical oxygen demand is the measure of ox- ygen required to oxidize organic and inorganic compounds in ef�uent. It can adversel y affect or- ganisms in receiving waters.

5. Green-liquo r dregs and lime mud result from chemical recover y operations : After burning black liquor in the recover y boiler, a smelt that contains sodium carbonate results. When dis- solved, the smelt forms green liquor, leaving be- hind green-liquo r dregs, which are removed. Green liquor is reacted with lime (calcium oxide) to regenerate white liquor and precipitat e lime mud (calcium carbonate) . The mud is �red in the limekilns to regenerate lime. After adjustin g its chemical composition , the white liquor is again used in cooking operation s (Smook 1992, 149 – 153).

6. Wood knots are overthick chips or other irregula r wood pieces that are dif�cult to digest during cooking. Screenings are particles of wood that may contaminate pulp and paper if not screened out before cooking operations .

7. The Maine DEP sets standards and requires test- ing for heavy metals and other hazardous contam- inants in ash and sludge as a condition of ap-

p r o v a l f o r b e n e �c i a l r e u s e , s u c h a s l a n d application . It also sets limits on the amount of heavy metals and other contaminants that can be applied to a parcel of land. Code of Maine Reg- ulations, Chapter 419, “Agronomic Utilization of Residuals” (effectiv e December 19, 1999).

8. Groves left the Maine DEP to work at the mill in 1994, becoming environmental manager in 1995.

9. Limekilns recover calcium oxide (lime) from cal- cium carbonate by driving off carbon dioxide. Used as a coater and �ller, PCC use is not unique to the Androscoggin Mill. Some coated papers contain 30% PCC by weight. SMI sells about 60% of its output to the mill and the rest to other paper mills.

10. There is disagreemen t over competing standards in forest management. The primary alternativ e to the American Forestry and Paper Association’s SFI is the Forest Stewardship Council’s standard. See the compariso n prepare d by the Meridian In- stitute (2001) for further details.

11. The Androscoggi n Mill also has an environmen- tal management system that is audited and ap- proved by the Maine DEP and the U.S. EPA.

References

AFPA (American Forest and Paper Association) . 1994. Sustainable forestry initiative program. www.afandpa.org /iinfo/iinfo.html. Accessed May 2002.

Churchman, C. W. 1968. The systems approach. New York: Dell.

Ehrenfeld, J. R. and N. Gertler. 1997. Industrial ecol- ogy in practice: The evolution of interdepen - dence at Kalundborg. Journal of Industrial Ecology 1(1): 67 – 79.

McDonough, T. 2000. Pulping and bleaching technol- ogies for improved environmental performance . In Industria l environmenta l control, pulp and paper industry. Third edition. Edited by A. Springer. Atlanta: TAPPI Press.

Meridian Institute. 2001. Comparative analysis of the Forest Stewardshi p Council© and Sustainabl e For- estry Initiative®certi�cation programs. Washington, DC: Meridian Institute. http://madison.merid .org/meridian/home.nsf/projectarea . Accessed Au- gust 2002.

President’s Commission on Environmental Quality (PCEQ). 1990. Executive Order 12737, Decem- ber 12, 1990, 55 F.R. 51681.

Servos, M. R., K. R. Munkittrick, J. H. Carey, and G. J. Van Derkraak, eds. 1996. Environmental fate and

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effects of pulp and paper mill ef�uents. Delray Beach, FL: St. Lucie Press.

Sjostrom, E. 1981. Wood chemistry. New York: Aca- demic Press.

Smook, G. A. 1992. Handbook for pulp and paper tech- nologists. Second edition. Bellingham, WA: An- gus Wilde Publications.

Springer, A. 2000a. Industria l environmenta l control, pulp and paper industry. Third edition. Edited by A. Springer. Atlanta: TAPPI Press.

Springer, A. 2000b. Impact of water pollutants on the pulp and paper industry. In Industria l environmen - tal control, pulp and paper industry. Third edition. Edited by A. Springer. Atlanta: TAPPI Press.

Springer, A. 2000c. Air pollution : A problem without boundaries . In Industrial environmenta l control, pulp and paper industry. Third edition. Edited by A. Springer. Atlanta: TAPPI Press.

Springer, A. 2000d. Pollution prevention. In Industrial environmenta l control, pulp and paper industry. Third edition. Edited by A. Springer. Atlanta: TAPPI Press.

Springer, A. 2000e. Management of residuals. In In- dustrial environmenta l control, pulp and paper in- dustry. Third edition. Edited by A. Springer. At- lanta: TAPPI Press.

Springer, A. and J. Maxham. 2000. Secondary aerobic biologica l treatment. In Industrial environmenta l control, pulp and paper industry. Third edition. Ed- ited by A. Springer. Atlanta: TAPPI Press.

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Chem- ical Accident Prevention and Risk Management Programs. 2001. www.epa.gov/swercepp/acc-pre .html. Accessed August 2002.

U.S. EPA Star Track Program. 1997. StarTrack Envi- ronmental Performance Report. www.epa.gov/ region01/steward/strack/eprip.pdf . Accessed May 2002.

U.S. EPA XL Project. 2002. What is Project XL? www.epa.gov/projectxl /�le2htm. Accessed Au- gust 2002.

Appendix 1: Kraft Pulping and Pollution Associated with It

Background

Wood, the source of the �ber used to make most paper, contains two major components. One is carbohydrate (cellulose and hemicellu- lose). The other is lignin, which binds tightly to the carbohydrate and imparts strength to the wood. In chemical pulping, �ber (cellulose and

hemicellulose) is separated from lignin by cook- ing wood chips with inorganic chemicals at high temperature and pressure.

The paper indust ry typically used two chemical-pulping technologies in the 1950s and 1960s, sul�te and kraft. Sul�te mills of that time discharged spent cooking liquor into rivers to avoid the cost of recovering cooking chemicals. In contrast, the kraft process incorporates an eco- nomic recovery of 97% to 98% of cooking chem- icals (Smook 1992). The result was the closure of a growing number of sul�te mills in the 1950s as kraft mills came on line. Kraft mills, although more economical to operate, produce a dark pulp (the color of a typical grocery bag), which re- quires stronger bleaching. This led to the use of elemental chlorine as a bleaching agent.

Chemical and Energy Recovery

The spent pulping liquor that results from kraft cooking contains about half the wood’s or- ganic substance, especially lignin-containing chemicals, as well as the degradation products of the inorganic cooking chemicals. In the kraft process, the inorganic chemicals are recovered in a closed-loop process that relies on energy gen- erated by the burning of lignin-rich liquor: The spent liquor initially contains about 15% solids. This is concentrated in evaporators to about 75% solids and then burned in recovery boilers to gen- erate steam. The steam is used to evaporate and concentrate additional spent liquor, continuing the cycle and also providing electricity and steam to the paper mill. The smelt left after burning the liquor contains the inorganic chemicals. These are recovered and converted back to cook- ing chemicals that can be used again.

Making Paper

The cooked chips (separated from the bulk of the liquor) are disintegrated into their compo- nent �bers, the pulp. The pulp is washed and then often undergoes further treatment such as oxygen deligni�cation. It is bleached and washed again. Finally, the pulp is diluted and fed along with additives into the machines producing pa- per products.

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Pollutants Produced by Kraft Pulping

Wastewater treatment plants generally can- not be 100% effective, and some pollution still reaches rivers. Pollutants from kraft mills include BOD, pigments (primarily from the dark color of lignin), and total suspended solids. The use of elemental chlorine to bleach pulp results in AOXs, including trace amounts of dioxins, in mill ef�uents. Chlorine dioxide bleaching signi�- cantly lowers AOX generation and virtually eliminates dioxi n formation (McDonough 2000). Kraft mills produce air pollutants that are typical of many industrial facilities. Those most annoying to nearby communities are malodorous sulfur-containing chemicals, such as methyl sul- �de, that result from the cooking process. Strin-

gent emissions controls are required to avoid re- leases (Springer 2000c).

About the Authors

Marquita Hill is cooperatin g professo r in the De- partment of Chemical Engineering at the University of Maine in Orono, Maine, USA, and was a member of Androscoggi n Mill’s public advisor y committee from 1992 until 2002. Thomas Saviello was the su- perintenden t of environmental services , 1991 – 2001, and has been manager of environmental health and safety since April 2001 in the environmental depart- ment at International Paper’s Androscoggi n Mill, in Jay, Maine, USA. Stephen Groves was the Andro- scoggin Mill’s manager of environmental health and safety, 1995 –2001, and has been International Paper’s corporat e senior program manager for environmental initiatives since April 2001.