JAY – Wausau Paper has filed an application with the state to renew its air emission license with modifications for its paper mill.
The proposed minor modifications are primarily intended to increase the production rate of tape grades to improve the mill’s capability to meet future market growth, according to the company. The specialty paper company makes paper and masking tape products such as painter’s tape.
In a series of meetings, the Department of Environmental Protection and the company developed a draft license that’s acceptable to both parties. It’s available for public review in Augusta and at the town office in Jay, said state environmental engineer Jon Voisine on Thursday.
If there are no written comments from the public or comments from the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the draft license will be accepted as written, Voisine said.
The company proposes to optimize No. 11 paper machine to increase the production rate of tape grades by up to 40 percent and the production rate of paper-tablet grades by up to 30 percent.
Wausau Paper has also filed a petition with the town for a minor modification of its town-issued air permit for the same reason, Jay Code Enforcement Officer Shiloh Ring said Thursday.
The Jay Planning Board will take up the proposed modification at 7 p.m. Tuesday in the Community Building.
The increased emissions would result from increased fuel consumption in the boilers and higher production on No. 11, she said. That increase would still be within the existing air permit that the town has issued to the company and doesn’t require changing the permit, just adding a minor modification, Ring said.
The mill’s current air-permit limits per year are 134.4 tons of particulate matter, nearly 1,834 tons of sulfur dioxide, 351.8 tons of nitrogen oxide, 26.6 tons of carbon monoxide and 8.76 tons of volatile organic compounds.
The total maximum increase in emissions under the modification for both the town and state permits a year would be 0.5 tons of particulate matter, 0.19 tons of carbon monoxide, 1.8 tons of nitrogen oxide, 9.8 tons of sulfur dioxide and 3.1 tons of volatile organic compounds.
According to a project description submitted to the town, there will be an increase in steam demand to support the increased paper-machine production. The existing boilers are currently operating below capacity and no physical modifications would be necessary to supply the additional steam.
The modifications include upgrading the existing steam box and dryer siphons, upgrading existing vacuum pumps and adding one to the lineup, installing more structurally sound felt rolls in the press section, and dryer steam repiping.
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