For release: May 16, 2005

Contacts:
DEQ: Holly Schroeder, Water Quality Administrator, Portland, (971) 563-6432
Columbia Riverkeeper: Brent Foster, Mosier, Oregon (541) 380-1334
Georgia-Pacific: Carolyn McGreevy, Regional Communications, Camas, Wash., (360) 817-2124
Northwest Environmental Defense Center: Mark Riskedahl, Portland, (503) 750-5533

Columbia Riverkeeper, GP, NEDC and DEQ agree on terms that will include habitat improvement and water quality data collection in lower Columbia River

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Columbia Riverkeeper, Northwest Environmental Defense Center (NEDC) and Georgia-Pacific (GP) have announced a settlement of an appeal of Georgia-Pacific’s wastewater discharge permit for its Wauna pulp and paper mill near Clatskanie, in northwest Oregon. Columbia Riverkeeper and NEDC had challenged certain provisions of the DEQ-issued permit, which allows the mill to discharge treated wastewater into the Columbia River. The settlement also addresses a suit threatened by Columbia Riverkeeper and NEDC against the mill for alleged permit violations.

The agreement, signed last Friday, outlines a cooperative working relationship on key water quality and research projects. Georgia-Pacific will provide $250,000 to fund habitat restoration, water quality monitoring and sampling at various locations in the Lower Columbia River Basin that are aimed at protecting salmon. GP would also expedite a project required by the permit to end discharges from its filter backwash outfall and agree to gather water quality data that will be used in its next permit renewal in 2007. A key part of the agreement is a commitment by the company to invest in habitat improvement projects in the lower Columbia River that will benefit salmon and other aquatic species.

As part of the agreement, a consent order has been signed settling all claims against DEQ and GP regarding the National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) water quality permit that DEQ issued the mill in October 2003. Columbia Riverkeeper, NEDC and other parties had filed a lawsuit in November 2003 against DEQ challenging the permit and claiming that the permit was inconsistent with provisions of the federal Clean Water Act. Specifically, the appeal challenged DEQ’s decisions regarding toxic effluent limits, water temperature and the use of “mixing zones” for the mills’ two regulated outfalls along the Columbia River.

Under terms of the settlement, GP will assist the Lower Columbia River Watershed Council with funds to realign a culvert on Miller Creek near Clatskanie this summer. The project is expected to improve fish passage to spawning areas that are currently inaccessible to migrating salmon.

GP will also provide funds so the Native Fish Society can conduct extensive water quality tests to get more information on potential impacts on aquatic life in the area. The Native Fish Society’s water quality tests will focus on obtaining data related to temperature, dissolved oxygen and heavy metals that are considered serious problems in the lower and middle Columbia River and its tributaries. GP will conduct river water and mill effluent tests for arsenic, lead, mercury, zinc, iron, copper, aluminum and magnesium. GP will also add an additional species, rainbow trout, to its permit-required list of toxicity test species for its treated wastewater.

DEQ and other natural resource agencies will be able to use the new data in developing action plans to reduce or eliminate human-caused impacts to water quality in the Columbia River and its tributaries.

Quotes:

• Kelly Wolff, vice president, GP Wauna mill: “Through this cooperative process, Georgia-Pacific is demonstrating its commitment to investing time and resources on projects that benefit everyone in the Lower Columbia River Basin. This settlement is a better use of everyone’s resources and is a better alternative than being tied up in litigation.”
• Melissa Powers, attorney with Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center, which represented NEDC on the litigation: “This settlement provides some very tangible benefits for the Columbia River both in terms of restoring salmon habitat and providing us the water quality monitoring data that is critical to solving water quality problems on the river.”
• Brent Foster, attorney for Columbia Riverkeeper: “We are pleased to be able to reach a settlement that is good for the Columbia River and its salmon, especially at a time when it’s clear that salmon continue to need all the help they can get.”
• Holly Schroeder, DEQ Water Quality Division administrator: “This settlement is consistent with DEQ’s ongoing initiative to improve the quality and effectiveness of our water quality permit program, thereby protecting the beneficial uses of Oregon’s waters.”

Columbia Riverkeeper is a nonprofit river conservation group committed to the protection and restoration of the Columbia River and its tributaries. (See www.columbiariverkeeper.org for more information.)

NEDC, based at Lewis and Clark College’s School of Law in Portland, has been working to protect the environment and natural resources of the Pacific Northwest for more than 30 years.

The Pacific Environmental Advocacy Center is a nonprofit, public-interest law firm that represented NEDC in this case.

Georgia-Pacific’s Wauna Mill, located in Clatsop County, employs 1,128 people, producing nationally branded consumer bath tissue, napkins and power towels. Headquartered in Atlanta, GP is one of the world’s leading manufacturers and marketers of tissue, packaging, paper, building products and related chemicals. For more information about the company, go to www.gp.com.