By Andrew Macdonald
Northern Pulp: Can the Sodra Pulp Mill Swedish Effluent Operation Serve As Solution In Pictou County?
Northern Pulp has disclosed it is patterning an effluent treatment operation after three mills in Europe.
They include:
– The Mercer International Stendal Mill in Arneburg, Germany.
– The Södra mill in Väröbacka, Sweden
– The Södra cell Mörrum Paper and Dissolving Pulp Mill, Sweden.
Significantly, the Sodra mill’s location is near an active fishery.
For this story, I am detailing a 2013 marine environment report, written by Swedish biologist Peter Ljungberg, who studied the effluent affects at the Sodra mill, and his report was authored by Swedish University of Agricultural Science.
Environmental effects studies are required by every industrial operation in the world – including Canada, under the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (signed by Canada on day one of the UN agreement in 2004).
These environmental effects studies are conducted by international law every five-years since the mid 1990s.
As for the Sodra mill, it has twice that annual production capacity of the Abercrombie Mill, and untreated effluent from Northern Pulp was taken to that mill for testing of the treatment system, says a reliable source.
That same treatment system is what JD Irving uses in Saint John New Brunswick for its kraft pulp mill.
The 2013 report by the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences generally concluded the Sodra mill is not having a great impact with their effluent treatment and outfall, on the local fishery there.
According to the surveys that the results so far indicate that Södra mill’s effluent has not had a negative impact on the fish stock, but rather a positive impact on the development of certain species on the long term.
The fact that an individual fish species is increasing need not only be positive for a society, it can also cause problems for other species in terms of competition or predation, factors that in turn lead to changes in the entire ecosystem, found the university study.
The Sodra mill’s effluent pours out into Kattegat Sea.
Their discharge outlet placement is indeed per Northern Pulp’s proposal.
The Sodra mill has been monitoring the local fish community since 1983.
“The waste water discharge area along with an undisturbed reference area is annually surveyed”, the Swedish study explains.
“The trend with increasing catches observed in recent years has been changed. During the last decade there have been more species associated with decreasing catches than with increasing catches”, says the study.
It did find some fish species are on the rise near the Sodra mill.
“Greater weever (Trachinus draco), scald fish (Arnoglossus laterna), black goby (Gobius niger), swimming crab (Liocarcinus sp.) and edible crab (Cancer pagurus) are however species that have increased in both areas on a longer term”, the study reports0
“Haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus) and brill (Scophthalmus rhombus) have increased in the recipient area”, states the study.
It also reports that other species have decreased, however.
“Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) has decreased in both areas over the last decade”.
But the study also says: “Since the beginning of the survey period, species diversity in the catch increased…”.
Signficantly this study found: “Based on these studies, no clear negative effect on fish could be identified due to emissions from Södra Cell Värö”.
It says any decline in fish species since the 1970s is not believed to be related to the Swedish mill.
“The decline has followed trends seen elsewhere in northern Europe and is not believed to have any correlation with the activities at Södra Cell Värö”, concludes the study.
The following is also from the Swedish university report, released in 2013.
It is highly technical in its description on the operational process of the Sodra effluent treatment plant.
“Södra Cell Värö uses 90,000 m3 water from Viskan every day – process water
is discharged into the sea via a four kilometer long discharge tube, as on the last 750 metres is equipped with diffuser nozzles to spread the discharge”, the study details.
“The release takes place at a water depth between 15 and 18 m in the open sea west of the pulp mill. The water released is 30–40 ° C hot and has a pH of 8. Of the total water quantity, 70,000 m3 cooling water that is only heated and passes through sedimentation basins before it enters the tube”, the report explains.
“The remaining 20,000 m3 comes mainly from the pulp mill’s bleach factory. Then go into the water further in a biological purification process where TOC (total organic carbon) is reduced by about 70%, and where also nitrogen and phosphorus are bound before being released together with other process water in large sedimentation basins”, the mill study reports.
“Wood fibers are caught there to go to sludge management. After the sedimentation basins, the water finally reaches the sea via the tube”, the university document states.
“In the discharge there may be some dissolved EDTA (ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid). There are no conditions for this substance as it is present in small quantities and is not considered to affect the environment”, the Swedish university report details.
