Improvements to the Pigeon River Following Modernization of the Champion International Canton Mill, 1997 Environmental Conference Proceedings

Since 1987, Champion International has spent approximately 330 million dollars upgrading the Canton mill. These upgrades have reduced color levels by about 75% and reduced effluent flows by about 40%. To determine how the biota responded to these and other improvements in water quality, surveys were conducted in 1995 and compared to a baseline study in 1987.Components studied were periphyton, macroinvertebrates, fishes, habitat, light attenuation, and water chemistry.

The study area covered approximately 45 river miles, extending from just upstream of Canton, NC to near Bluffton, TN. Concentrations of most constituents in the river decreased by 50-80%, including color which declined by 80%. Dissolved oxygen concentrations in the mill effluent improved 91%, from 3.9 mg/l in 1987 to 7.4 mg/l in 1995.

These improvements in water quality have resulted in significant improvements in the aquatic communities. The fish community improved dramatically. Downstream Index of Biotic Integrity (IBI) scores improved by an average of 38% from 1987 to 1995 and species richness improved by an average of 81% during the same period. All downstream stations also yielded fair to good numbers of young-of-the-year fish and had a high number of species represented by multiple age classes indicating good survival and propagation of fishes downstream of the Canton mill. The health of redbreast sunfish throughout the study area was evaluated using the Health Assessment Index (HAI) method. HAI scores were similar throughout the study areas indicating a lack of impacts from the Canton mill.

The Pigeon River benthic community has also improved substantially since 1987 as judged by:

(1) A substantial improvement in total taxa richness,

(2) An even more marked improvement in EPT (Ephemeropterans=mayflies, Plecopterans=stoneflies, and Trichopterans = caddisflies) taxa richness,

(3) Snails and aquatic earthworms, groups that are very pollution tolerant, declined in density by 98% between 1987 and 1995, and

(4) An improvement in the narrative ratings at many sites.