Sludge Watch ==> Abitibi Stops Berm Disposal

[Maureen Reilly]

Sludgewatch Admin:

So when is the horror in Pelham going to be removed?  The sludge moutain is 
decomposing and collapsing into the slimy leachate bubbling with methane 
that is slurried at the bottom of the berms and neighbours report is running 
off site into a creek.

Hey!  Ministry of the Environment!  When will you implement the 
recommendations of your own Expert Panel?  When will you stop these mills 
from using farmfields of massive unrelgulated disposal of these materials 
that contain chemicals and 500,000 Ecoli per gram?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Pulp and Paper Canada
Nov 28, 2006

Abitibi stops berm disposal


St. Catharines, ON

Abitibi Consolidated will have to find alternatives for the disposal of its 
paper waste sludge.

According to a recent report by St. Catharines Standard, the company penned 
an agreement with the province of Ontario this week, confirming it will no 
longer discard its sludge in berms, like the one in Fenwick.

The Standard reported Paul Nieweglowski, head of the Ministry of Environment 
as saying, "it's a good step forward, a big step." Nieweglowski has received 
a vast amount of complaints from Fenwick residents since the spring 
construction of the berm. "I think [the agreement] will provide some comfort 
for citizens," he said.

The berm was originally constructed as a sound barrier, in order to block 
out noise from trains. Abitibi has consistently maintained that the 36,000 
tonne pile of paper sludge does not present any sort of environmental 
threat, however, provincial testing has concluded that runoff from the berm 
does indeed have negative environmental ramifications.

Abitibi is now investigating the potential of incinerating the 400 tonnes of 
paper waste it churns out on a daily basis.

http://www.pulpandpapercanada.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?id=62813&issue=11282006