Domtar almosts gets an F in test
After repeated tests that showed the air around Domtar was improving, the pulp mill in Kamloops has suffered a setback, narrowly passing its quarterly emissions test.
The test results, provided by Domtar to the Ministry of Environment (MOE), show the mill discharged 198.8 milligrams of particulate matter during the July 8 test.
That amount is slightly less than the 200 milligrams allowed under its permit.
The test showed a large increase in the amount of particulate emissions compared to the results of a test in March.
The mill was discharging 158 milligrams of particulate matter in the spring, well below its permit limit.
The average score in 2010 for Domtar was 151 milligrams of particulate matter.
As part of an amended permit handed out by the MOE in 2009, the mill is subject to emissions testing every three months.
A Domtar spokesperson blamed the test results on two factors, noting the operating conditions at the mill weren’t as stable at the time of the test and officials discovered minor problems with the suction on air-testing equipment.
The spokesperson said the mill has done work since the test to understand the variation and expects the third-quarter results to be significantly better.
Those test results are expected to be sent to the government in the fall.
By 2012, particulate emisisons must be reduced to a further 180 milligrams, a full year earlier than the amended permit intended.
By 2013, the two proposed double power-boiler stacks must be in place, with a 50-milligram limit.
The Domtar spokesperson noted construction on the new stacks is underway and will be complete sometime this fall.
Finally, the high-elevation stack must drop its emissions to 90 milligrams by 2014, completing all the work required two years earlier.
The mill started last summer to make sure it meets the new schedule, which included work on its recovery boiler during a major shutdown.
Domtar had been given until 2016 to meet all requirements.
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