Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutNC0000272_NCASI Color Loading Analysis_20220401 (2)NATIONAL COUNCIL FOR AIR AND STREAM IMPROVEMENT, INC. Nick McCracken EHS Water Supervisor Evergreen Packaging Inc. Canton Mill Nick.McCracken@everpack.com Dear Nick: NORTHERN REGIONAL CENTER A-114 Parkview Campus, Mail Stop 5436 Western Michigan University Kalamazoo, MI 49008 (269) 276-3543 FAX: (269) 276-3551 Laurel Eppstein Associate Scientist Ippstein@ncasi.org You requested recent color loadings from bleached kraft mills. We have analyzed data downloaded from EPA's DMR (discharge monitoring reports) database. In the first analysis, we have used only those data that we were able to transform into units of average pounds/day of color. This excluded reports that: 1) were maximum values (daily or monthly, seven mills); 2) were based upon tons of pulp (Ib/ton, five Maine mills); or 3) had no effluent flow associated with color data, so couldn't be converted to a daily mass (one mill). We used EPA's permit formula for transforming color units to mass: Effluent Flow (MGD) x Effluent True Color Level (Platinum Cobalt Units) x 8.34. This left us with only ten bleached kraft mills' data with which to work, four from EPA region 4; one, region 2; three, region 3; and two, region 10. Each of the mill's report dates range from early in 2010 to the end of 2011, with an average of 21 report dates per mill. These are the statistics of the set: Minimum Maximum Average Color lb/day 13,132 159, 757 59,030 J A frequency distribution of the average annual daily color Toad per mill is displayed on the next page. Canton's data point is shown, at the 22nd percentile. In terms of Toads, this mill performs better than 7 of the mills in the group. If the new permit limit is 36,000 lb/day averaged over a year, your mill is right at that limit in this data set. 180,000 160,000 140,000 120,000 co t 100,000 1 0 0 0 80,000 60,000 40,000 20,000 MIM Color Loadings Ten Bleached Kraft Mills EPA DMR Data Canton 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% % of Mills with Color Loads Less Than 80% 90% 100% A second analysis of only those DMR data where the unit was PT -CO (PCU) and the report statistic was `average' was also performed. Ten mills were in this group also, with similar representation in the EPA regions as above, with the exception of one more mill in region 3 and one less in region 4. The average number of report dates per mill was 20, with similar date ranges. The range of this analysis was much tighter: Minimum Maximum Average Color (PCU) 117 781 361 A frequency distribution of the average annual daily effluent color value per mill is displayed on the next page. Canton's data point is shown, at the llth percentile. There are 8 mills with higher daily values than Canton's. 900 800 --- 700 600 ca 500 a 400 300 200 100 Color Concentration (PCU), Ten Bleached Kraft Mills EPA DMR Data Canton 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% % of Mills with Color Loads Less Than A third analysis was performed using the pounds of color per ton of brownstock pulp to the bleach plant. This enabled use of the Maine mills, which had reported in units of Ibs/ton pulp. Transforming the PCU and lb/day data for the remaining mills required using 2010 pulp data from AF&PA's EHS database. Dates were limited in this group to the year 2010, to match the pulp data year. This pairing of monthly reports of color data with annual pulp production was imperfect, as 1/12 the pulp per month was not an actual match -up with the color reported. Therefore, this analysis should be given less merit than the previous two. This group contained 16 bleached kraft mills, four from EPA region 4; one, region 2; four, region 3; five, region 1; and two, region 10. The number of dates in 2010 ranged from 3 to 12. These are the statistics of the set: Minimum Maximum Average Color lb/ton kraft pulp 20 _j 188 77 A frequency distribution of the average pounds color/ton brownstock kraft pulp to the bleach plant is displayed below. Canton's data point is shown, at the 7th percentile. There are 14 mills with higher production -weighted color values than Canton's. 200 180 160 - a 140 - - 120 L 0 100 4-1 80 0 0 0 60 -- 40 20 Color Normalized to Brownstock Kraft Pulp before Bleaching 16 Mills, EPA DMR Data & AF&PA 2010 Pulp Canton 0' , f ( I I I I i 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100% % of Mills with Color lb/ton kraft pulp Less Than Nick, we hope this helps you in addressing your re -permitting concerns. Please contact me if you need something other than what we have provided here. Sincerely, Laurel Eppstein