Environmental Permitting Process for the Louisiana-Pacific Samoa Mill Pollution Prevention Project, 1994 Environmental Conference Proceedings

Scott Ellis, James Miller

An Environmental Impact Report proposed under the California Environmental Quality Act guidelines was completed in April 1993 for Louisiana-Pacific’s Samoa, California pulp mill to eliminate chlorine from its bleaching process, to install a stream stripper, and to extend an existing wastewater outfall. These changes will allow the mill to meet imposed national effluent limitations. The major public issue was potential air quality degradation because effluent constituents (especially total reduced sulfur compounds) that were formerly discharged into the ocean would not be routed to the thermal oxidizer, or the recovery boiler. The EIR successfully demonstrated that these new air emissions would not violate, or substantially contribute to the exceedance of air quality standards. The EIR was unanimously approved by the Humboldt County Planning Commission; the entire EIR portion of the permitting process required 7 months.