BATON ROUGE – The Department of Environmental Quality has issued an order and notice of potential penalty to the company that runs a Bogalusa paper mill over the recent fish kill in the Pearl River.
The DEQ sent the notice to Temple-Inland, according to a press release.
The order outlined several violations which could lead to fines, including: failure to notify in a timely manner of an emergency condition; permit exceedances, unauthorized discharge of pollutants and discharges which led to an extensive fish kill.
The DEQ also stated that Temple-Inland must also submit a plan that shows “long-term operation, maintenance and process changes to ensure repeat or similar incidents do not occur at this facility.”
“This order sets the legal process in motion to issues penalties and ensure compliance with environmental regulations,” said DEQ Secretary Peggy Hatch. “This process will provide us with information as to why the facility did not respond in a timely manner.”
Black Liquor is water that contains processed wood pulp that is used to make paper. It is produced by heating and adding sodium hydroxide, which has a high pH. This helps breakdown wood fibers, but also makes the fibers easily digested by bacteria in the water. The digestion robs oxygen of the water and suffocates fish.
