Multimedia, Multipathway Risk Assessment for Evaluating a Kraft Pulp and Paper Mill Modernization's Environmental Impact, 1993 Environmental Conference Proceedings

As part of evaluating environmental impacts and permitting for the Boise Cascade International Falls mill modernization project, a multimedia, multipathway risk assessment was performed. This was the first known comprehensive risk assessment of a kraft pulp and paper mill that evaluated the relative potential risks of releases to the environment, both air emissions and water discharges, and identified the key compounds in each type of release. Breaking this new ground created both technical and management challenges including creation of a certain amount of anxiety. The results demonstrated improved and acceptable levels of risk, generally below an increased cancer risk of 1 x 10^-5 (one in one-hundred thousand) for most of the human health exposure pathways examined. Impacts to wildlife were found to be acceptable and also improved as a result of the modernization. Evaluation of risk was an important tool in designing an environmentally sound project. This evaluation helps define some of the elements which should be considered in the risk assessment process for a pulp and paper facility. These are outlined in the paper.