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Northeast District - Georgia Pacific Programs

Georgia Pacific Corporation
Frequently Asked Questions and Associated Information

Supporting Documents:  


Frequently Asked Questions:

1. What is being announced?

Georgia Pacific (GP) will soon begin building a pipeline to relocate the facility’s effluent discharge from Rice Creek to the St. Johns River. The Florida Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) existing Administrative Order requires construction to be complete by September 2010.

2. Is a permit needed to construct the pipeline?

An extensive permitting process, including scientific review, public input, and an Administrative Hearing, concluded in August 2002, resulting in several manufacturing upgrades, a wastewater quality optimization period and authorization to construct the pipeline under certain conditions. All required approvals have already been obtained.

3. Why is the pipeline needed at this facility?

After implementation of all the manufacturing improvements and wastewater quality optimization activities, GP studied its effluent and Rice Creek to see if water quality standards could be met if the discharge remained where it is today. The Water Quality Report submitted in June 2008 confirmed that water quality standards were not obtainable in Rice Creek. The flow capacity of Rice Creek is not large enough to assimilate the improved effluent. The discharge will be relocated directly to the St. Johns River that has much more assimilative capacity to maintain water quality standards.

4. What environmental benefits will result from relocating the discharge from Rice Creek?

Relocating the outfall will allow Rice Creek to return to natural conditions. Eventually, Rice Creek’s color levels, conductivity and ammonia concentrations will be greatly reduced and back to the level of background conditions, or the normal amounts of these elements that would naturally be in the creek. Removing the effluent from Rice Creek should also allow grassbeds to develop along the western shoreline of the St. Johns River, north of the mouth of Rice Creek.

5. Will moving the discharge adversely impact the St. Johns River?

GP will meet water quality standards in the St. Johns River. To ensure the River’s protection, DEP has required an on-going water quality study of the St. Johns River designed to monitor for any potential effects on water quality from the proposed effluent discharge to the St. Johns River. The sampling for this plan of study is already underway. GP is also monitoring for potential effects on biological communities from the discharge to the St. Johns River. Biological community monitoring includes issues such as submerged grasses and aquatic species such as amphibians, reptiles and fish.

Ultimately, the effluent discharging to Rice Creek today goes to the St. Johns River. Therefore, with the relocation of the outfall, the overall effluent loading to the St. Johns River will not change.

6. How will this change affect the established Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL), or the ongoing development of the Basin Management Action Plan (BMAP) for the St. Johns River?

This change will not impact the TMDL or the BMAP process. GP has an allocation for nitrogen and phosphorus included in the TMDL and the company is currently meeting this allocation as a result of the wastewater quality improvements.

7. Does the construction of the pipeline allow Georgia Pacific to increase production or increase the amount of effluent discharged through the pipeline?

No. GP has not requested an increase in production or pollutant load to the St. Johns River and DEP has not granted an increase in pollutant load to the River.

8. What is the timeline for the pipeline construction?

The Administrative Order requires construction to be complete by September 2010.

9. What improvements have been made at Georgia Pacific?

GP has invested more than $200 million dollars in manufacturing improvements at its Palatka facility that has resulted in reduce groundwater consumption and effluent loading into Rice Creek, including:

a. Installation of an enhanced (i.e. two stage) oxygen delignification system;
b. Replacement of existing brownstock washing lines with new brownstock washing systems;
c. Installation of green liquor dregs filter;
d. Minimization of all pulping liquor leaks and spills;
e. Handling the chlorine dioxide generator waste (i.e. salt cake), including efforts to find viable, long term sustainable market for such material and evaluation of alternative technologies for treating such materials;

The mill has already seen a reduction in water consumption from an average of 37 million gallons per day (mgd) to an average of 23 mgd.

The following pollutant reductions were also seen:

Effluent Parameter Percent Mass Reduction
(1997/1998 baseline)
Color 66
Conductivity 32
AOX 80
Total Nitrogen 54
Total Phosphorus 78
Flow 36
10. Where can I learn more about the pipeline project?

The Administrative Order and other documents associated with GP’s existing permit and pipeline relocation are available on this web page under supporting documents.


For more information please contact:  Georgia.Pacific@dep.state.fl.us
Or call the Northeast District Office at (904) 807-3300 and reference the Georgia Pacific Industrial Wastewater Permit. 

 

Last updated: July 30, 2008
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