JAY – The code enforcement officer is drawing up a compliance order outlining steps International Paper has either taken or plans to take to correct permit violations.

The town is working with International Paper to help find a solution to a problem that exists at the company’s wastewater treatment plant and resolve recent operational activities that have caused problems with the system to occur, Code Enforcement Officer Shiloh Ring said.

The company exceeded its daily limits under the town’s permit of biochemical oxygen demand, Ring said.

It’s the amount of oxygen required by micro-organisms to consume organic matter in the water, she said.

However, Andrew Fisk, director of the state Bureau of Land and Water Quality, said the company did not violate its state permit, which is issued with seasonal limits.

The state has gone up to inspect the company’s treatment plant and plans to work with International Paper to resolve the issue, Fisk said.

The company treats its wastewater before it is discharged into the Androscoggin River, Ring said.

A combination of mill problems, a lot of rain and snow and excess flow at the treatment plant caused wastewater to flush through the treatment plant more quickly than usual and it was not treated as thoroughly as it should have been before it was discharged into the river, Ring said.

If it had been in August, Ring said it could have been very bad but since it was December and there was so much rain and snow, the dilution rate was greater, Ring said, and it shouldn’t cause an effect.

International Paper’s permit from the town allows the maximum daily limit of 18,000 pounds of biochemical oxygen demand each day, Ring said.

The company exceeded the daily limit on Dec. 13 with 24,559 pounds, she said. The monthly average per day is 10,000 pounds.

Generally in the past, Ring said, the company has operated well below its permit limits. However, twice in November and a few times in December the company exceeded its daily limit.

The excess days in December would most likely cause the company to also exceed the town’s monthly limit on its permit, Ring said.

IP brought a plan forward that called for it to shut down the mill so that it wouldn’t operate in noncompliance and violate the permit, Ring said.

But town officials chose to use discretionary enforcement and work with the company to try and resolve the problems to assure that compliance is achieved in the future, she said.

In a separate incident on another day this month, an operational foul-up in the mill caused 47,000 gallons of white liquor used in the paper making process to spill into the wastewater treatment system, Ring said. That also may have contributed to exceeding the daily limits, she said.

It was found to be an operator’s error, she said.

Tom Saviello, International Paper environmental, health and safety manager, said “the town is working with us to solve the problem.”

Years ago that wouldn’t have happened, Saviello said.

“This is the way the regulatory agency should work with the group they regulate,” Saviello said. He’s also a state representative.

Town Manager Ruth Marden commended mill officials for working so well with the town. She said the mill was in compliance on Monday.

The town’s compliance order will direct the company to take the actions necessary to assure compliance with the town permit limits, Ring said.

dperry@sunjournal.com

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