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International Paper, EPA and Others Sign Second Agreement for IP's Androscoggin Mill

Release Date: 06/29/2000
Contact Information: Amy Miller, EPA Press Office (617-918-1042)

BOSTON - International Paper Company today agreed to design, implement and install projects that will remove chemicals from its waste stream while improving the quality of pulp. The projects will result in wastewater discharges in the Androscoggin River that are cleaner than those required by federal law.

The agreement signed today between the company, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the state of Maine and the town of Jay was negotiated under EPA's Project XL (eXcellence and Leadership) Program, giving companies flexibility in implementing innovative projects to achieve environmental benefits.

Although the International Paper Company already meets most of the new requirements under EPA's Pulp and Paper Cluster Rule, the company sought a waiver from portions of rule that would allow it to divert expenditures from areas where they were already in compliance, and invest in areas with larger environmental benefits.

Today's agreement will do far more for the environment than paying to meet the letter of the law, according to EPA New England officials, who attended the event today in Jay to announce the agreement.

"This sort of project is exactly why XL is such a good idea," said Samuel Silverman, acting director of EPA New England's Office of Environmental Stewardship. "The company suggested different and innovative investments that will bring greater environmental benefits to the community."

Also attending the event were: Elizabeth Corr, special assistant for water to EPA Administrator Carol Browner, Sen. John Nutting; Michael Craft, manager of the International Paper Mill in Jay; David VanWie, director of the Bureau of Land and Water in the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and Steve Groves, manager for environmental health and safety at the IP-Jay mill.

According to today's agreement, the second EPA has signed with the company this year, International Paper will form a collaborative team to work on projects that reduce spent pulping liquors -- the chemicals used to turn wood chips into pulp. The team will include: EPA, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, the Town of Jay, the University of Maine's Chemical Engineering Department, the Appalachian Mountain Club and Environment Northeast, as well as employees at the Androscoggin Mill.

"The collaborative approach will allow the company to discover and take steps to minimize wastewater discharge," said Craft, mill manager. "By enlisting the help of all these specialists, the team will achieve environmental gains at the same time it improves business results. It's a true win-win project."

This announcement follows an earlier project agreement signed April 20. The first XL project allowed the company to develop and use a first-of-its-kind monitoring technology for its waste fuel incinerator. The technology will make information about air emissions immediately available to residents and will help the company make greater reductions in air pollution more quickly.

Both XL projects are part of an effort by EPA to reinvent government and environmental regulations in ways that are both cleaner for the environment and less expensive for regulators and industry. The new project will run for four years at the Androscoggin Mill. The collaborative team has one year to brainstorm and evaluate projects, two years to install equipment and processes and one year to evaluate the results and recommend new lower permit limits.

"We're very pleased about this sort of pro-active approach from the company's Androscoggin Mill," added Van Wie at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection. "They continue to make a number of thoughtful improvements and act as a leader for Maine's pulp and paper industry."

EPA's Project XL is a national pilot program that allows state and local governments and businesses to develop with EPA innovative strategies to test better and more cost- effective ways of achieving environmental and public health protection. Under the program, EPA will provide participants with regulatory flexibility to conduct experiments of specific XL criteria are met. Among the required criteria are: superior environmental results beyond those that would have been achieved under existing regulations and policies, high potential for transferring the technology to other facilities; a strong history of environmental compliance, and strong support from stakeholder groups.