Catawba paper mill | |
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Built | 1959 |
Location | Catawba, York County, South Carolina |
Coordinates | 34°50′N 80°53′W / 34.84°N 80.89°W |
Industry | Pulp and paper |
Products | Pulp |
Employees | 450 |
Buildings | 94,000 square feet |
Address | 5300 Cureton Ferry Rd, Catawba, SC 29704 |
Owner(s) | Schwarz Partners and New Indy LLC (a subsidiary of Kraft Group) |
Website |
newindycatawba |
Catawba paper mill is a paper factory in Catawba, South Carolina part owned by a subsidiary of Kraft Group.
The mill's owners were fined $1.1 million by the Environmental Protection Agency in response to odours emitted from the plant.
Catawba paper mill is a paper factory located on a 1,800 acre site [1] in Catawba, [2] York County, South Carolina [3] located approximately 5,000 feet [2] from the Catawba River [4] upstream of Chester, South Carolina. [4]
It is owned by Kraft Group subsidiary [5] New Indy LLC, [3] sometimes known as New Indy Containerboard. [4]
Wastewater from the mill flows through the mill's Aeration Stabilization Basin and an Equalization Basin, both designed to reduce the emission of hydrogen sulfide from the mill. [6]
The site 94,000 square foot factory employs 450 people. [1]
The mill was built in 1959. [7] Prior to New Indy buying the mill, it was owned by Bowater. [3] Schwarz Partners [1] and New Indy purchased the site from (Bowater's successor) Resolute Forest Products in 2019 [8] and switched activities away from bleached paper towards unbleached pulp. [3]
In 2020, the mill's owners were the subject of litigation by residents suing for damages they linked to odours from the plant. [2] Local residents claimed that the mill's emission caused headaches, nose bleeds, and nausea. [9] By 2021, over 30,000 public complaints had been made about the smells from the mill. [8]
The Environmental Protection Agency fined the owners $1.1 million relating to emissions of fumes from the plant. [2] In 2022, mill manager Tony Hobson admitted that "We let the community down from an overall standpoint ...We started up. We ran into some issues at start-up and that ended up cascading into more than what we had hoped for." [6] In 2022, dioxins were identified in four 1960s-built [3] waste sludge lagoons at the mill. [2] An engineering report by S&ME Inc states that leaks from the lagoons seep into the adjacent river's embankment and that a repair was necessary. [3] Owners acknowledge the presence of dioxins in the lagoons, noting that this is a legacy of activities of prior owners. [3]
The mill is featured in the 2015 book The Slain Wood: Papermaking and Its Environmental Consequences in the American South written by UCLA law professor William Boyd [3] In the book, Boyd advocates for the mechanical removal of the sludge from the lagoons. [3] and encouraged the site's current owners to solve the problems they inherited with their purchase of the mill. [3]
Catawba paper mill | |
---|---|
| |
Built | 1959 |
Location | Catawba, York County, South Carolina |
Coordinates | 34°50′N 80°53′W / 34.84°N 80.89°W |
Industry | Pulp and paper |
Products | Pulp |
Employees | 450 |
Buildings | 94,000 square feet |
Address | 5300 Cureton Ferry Rd, Catawba, SC 29704 |
Owner(s) | Schwarz Partners and New Indy LLC (a subsidiary of Kraft Group) |
Website |
newindycatawba |
Catawba paper mill is a paper factory in Catawba, South Carolina part owned by a subsidiary of Kraft Group.
The mill's owners were fined $1.1 million by the Environmental Protection Agency in response to odours emitted from the plant.
Catawba paper mill is a paper factory located on a 1,800 acre site [1] in Catawba, [2] York County, South Carolina [3] located approximately 5,000 feet [2] from the Catawba River [4] upstream of Chester, South Carolina. [4]
It is owned by Kraft Group subsidiary [5] New Indy LLC, [3] sometimes known as New Indy Containerboard. [4]
Wastewater from the mill flows through the mill's Aeration Stabilization Basin and an Equalization Basin, both designed to reduce the emission of hydrogen sulfide from the mill. [6]
The site 94,000 square foot factory employs 450 people. [1]
The mill was built in 1959. [7] Prior to New Indy buying the mill, it was owned by Bowater. [3] Schwarz Partners [1] and New Indy purchased the site from (Bowater's successor) Resolute Forest Products in 2019 [8] and switched activities away from bleached paper towards unbleached pulp. [3]
In 2020, the mill's owners were the subject of litigation by residents suing for damages they linked to odours from the plant. [2] Local residents claimed that the mill's emission caused headaches, nose bleeds, and nausea. [9] By 2021, over 30,000 public complaints had been made about the smells from the mill. [8]
The Environmental Protection Agency fined the owners $1.1 million relating to emissions of fumes from the plant. [2] In 2022, mill manager Tony Hobson admitted that "We let the community down from an overall standpoint ...We started up. We ran into some issues at start-up and that ended up cascading into more than what we had hoped for." [6] In 2022, dioxins were identified in four 1960s-built [3] waste sludge lagoons at the mill. [2] An engineering report by S&ME Inc states that leaks from the lagoons seep into the adjacent river's embankment and that a repair was necessary. [3] Owners acknowledge the presence of dioxins in the lagoons, noting that this is a legacy of activities of prior owners. [3]
The mill is featured in the 2015 book The Slain Wood: Papermaking and Its Environmental Consequences in the American South written by UCLA law professor William Boyd [3] In the book, Boyd advocates for the mechanical removal of the sludge from the lagoons. [3] and encouraged the site's current owners to solve the problems they inherited with their purchase of the mill. [3]