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Municipal and First Nation leaders were to receive written assurances from former pulp mill co-owner Tembec that it will not attempt to transfer leftover black pulping liquors into a dormant secondary treatment plant, or a spill basin on Marathon‘s outskirts. A roadblock to prevent Tembec from doing that went up Dec. 10. “So if we receive this (assurance) letter, we will take it to the people on the blockade so that they can go home and enjoy the weekend with their families,” said Marathon Mayor Rick Dumas. As well, an interim agreement reached Friday is to ensure that no chemicals will be transferred through an effluent pipe that has leaked and caused two minor spills this month. The spills have been contained and vacuumed up. Meanwhile, Tembec was continuing Friday to fine-tune a plan to deal with about 1.5 million litres of the black liquor that remains in holding tanks on the mill site. Dumas said he expects the plan to involve keeping the chemicals at the plant over the winter and preventing them from freezing by providing minimum heat where the holding tanks are located. When spring comes, said Dumas, the chemicals are expected to be removed from the property – something many locals have been demanding during the past two weeks. Ministry of Environment spokeswoman Lisa Brygidyr said Tembec‘s latest plan to deal with the chemicals is to be submitted for review by MOE officials Monday or Tuesday. Brygidyr said she couldn‘t share details of the plan until it‘s been reviewed, but said some of the chemicals could go into an on-site clarifer pond as “a short-term” solution. An engineering review this week determined that it would not be safe to put the entire 1.5 million litres in the clarifier and keep them there over the winter. Earlier this fall, Tembec had been able to ship about 40 per cent of the remaining black liquor to other mills in Fort Frances, International Falls, Minn. and British Columbia. The Marathon mill went bankrupt in March. Tembec said other mills didn‘t want the rest of the liquors because they are too diluted and of inferior quality. Many who attended last week‘s public meeting over the issue said that was Tembec‘s problem. They said the chemicals should have been shipped to treatment facilities outside of Marathon. Top of Page |
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September 2, 2010, 8:22 am |