NC0000272_Correspondence_20221219

p of v°
175 Main Street
Canton, NC 28716
828.646.2000
pactivevergin•mm
VIA EMAIL —'NO HARDCOPY TO FOLLOW
December 16,.2022
Mr. Landon Davidson
Regional Supervisor
Division of Water Resources —Asheville Regional•Office
North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality
2090 US Hwy 70
Swannanoa, North Carolina 28778
Subject: Response to your questions related to Soap
Blue Ridge Paper Products, Inc. dba Evergreen Packaging
Canton Mill - Permit No. NC0000272
Dear Mr. Davidson:
I am writing in response to your email, dated November 18, 2022. Below are the answers to your
questions. Please let me know If you need anything else:
A descriptive narrative of the following items as they pertain to soap:
o Generation — Soap is the organic material left in the black liquor after it Is used In the
chip digesting process. Black liquor Is heavier than soap and settles to the bottom of the
tank. Soap is then collected, or skimmed, from black liquor tanks for use in the Trostol
Oil Making process.
o Storage — Soap is In 14 tanks in the facility. The amount of soap in each tank varies
depending on multiple process variables.
o Fate — See attached documents (Soap and Tall Oil Overview, Tall Oil Skimming Training)
o Summary of recent introductions to WWTP — see the attached document "2022 BMP
LMS Training.2022.05.18", specifically slides 27 — 31.
• Inventory tracking:
o Tanks that solely contain soap have level indicators that allow accurate real-time
inventory tracking.
o Tanks that contain a mixture of soap and other materials are monitored for total
volume, but not by separate material.
o During normal operations, a release of soap from containment would be discovered by
visual inspections of process areas by operators, remote visual monitoring of areas that
have cameras, and by WWTP operators monitoring the color of the primary influent to
the WWTP.
o During a shutdown situation, all of the above methods remain In place.
Status of Corrective Actions:
o Operator training and communication updates as they relate to avoiding discharge of
soap in the WWTP. Complete.
o Remote visual monitoring of the pine weak liquor storage area.:.Complete. .•
o Improvement to communication of process changes which could indicate possible soap
discharges. Complete.
o Improved secondary containment to prevent discharge of soap. Complete.

Please reach out to Tracy Willis if you have any further questions.
Respectfully,
John McCarthy
Mill Manager
Canton MITI
[e-mail]
Tracy Willis
cc: Tim Heim
Tracy Willis
Wastewater Treatment Plant ORC
Canton Mill — [phone]
Tracv.WiIIist pactIveverareen.com
Canton Mill
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