Jen Kalt, Humboldt Baykeeper Director
The American Lung Association recently ranked Humboldt County’s air quality as among the cleanest in the state. But that wasn’t always so. For decades, two pulp mills just across Humboldt Bay from Eureka smothered the city with stinky white smoke. Some say it was the “smell of money,” but the cleanup has cost taxpayers more than $30 million – with a huge mess still left behind.
In 1989, Surfrider Foundation filed a Clean Water Act lawsuit against the Simpson Pulp Mill in Fairhaven and the Louisiana-Pacific Pulp Mill in Samoa for dumping a combined 40 million gallons of untreated chemical waste into the ocean daily. The dioxin-laden, caustic effluent known as pulping liquors often turned the ocean black near one of the best surf spots in the region, causing nausea, rashes, and other ailments.
Surfrider documented 40,000 water quality violations, despite California’s famously-stringent (but often poorly-enforced) environmental regulations. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) later joined the lawsuit and, in 1991, the two companies agreed to what was then the largest Clean Water Act settlement in history. In addition to fines and legal fees, they committed $50 million to clean up their operations.
The mills were also required to conduct lab tests to prove that abalone, sea urchins, sand dollars, and kelp could survive in the effluent. Quoted in the L.A. Times, EPA attorney Christopher Sproul, said, “This represents the first time in the country that there has been any direct requirement placed on a discharger to reduce toxicity as measured by its effects on organisms.”
The larger Simpson pulp mill was demolished in 1998, and the smaller pulp mill changed hands several times and was eventually bought by Evergreen Pulp, a subsidiary of Lee & Man Paper. In 2006, EPIC and Californians for Alternatives to Toxics sued under the Clean Air Act. In 2008, a raid by dozens of local, state, and federal agents found numerous violations. Within months, the company filed for bankruptcy protection, leaving behind a massive toxic mess.
Harbor District Acquisition
In 2013, the Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District acquired the Samoa pulp mill at no cost, accepting responsibility for the aboveground hazardous waste at the site (Louisiana-Pacific is still responsible for groundwater contamination).
The Harbor District’s acquisition of the site was financially risky. But in hindsight, the agency’s determination to clean up the site averted imminent disaster. In October 2013, the U.S. EPA declared the site a Superfund emergency. Dozens of decaying tanks contained three million gallons of highly corrosive pulping liquor, 10,000 tons of sludge, 250 pounds of mercury, and 10,000 gallons of sulfuric and hydrochloric acids. Several of the tanks posed an immediate risk of overflowing due to rainwater accumulation.
On March 10, 2014, a 6.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast caused more cracks and leaks in the tanks. This was a wakeup call that sped up the removal of the pulping liquors, which were then hauled to a paper mill in Longview, Washington for reuse – 2,500 gallons at a time – at a cost of more than $15 million. Some tanks remain but stand empty, no longer an imminent threat to the bay.
Initial attempts to reuse the site included a scheme to process gold ore from British Columbia, a plan that was resoundingly rejected due to concerns about the use of mercury and cyanide next to Humboldt Bay.
Today, the site houses 18 businesses projected to pay more than $600,000 in rent this year, including Pacific Flake Salt Company, oyster producers Taylor Mariculture and Coast Seafoods, and two delivery services. Last month, the Harbor District closed the books on its New Market Tax Credit loans. Under this program, equity investments are made in low-income communities in exchange for tax credits. This money funded the renovation of warehouses and the installation of the largest rooftop solar system in the county.
Nordic Aquafarms hopes to demolish the asbestos-laden smokestack and boiler building, remove contaminated soil, and build a land-based aquaculture facility to raise Yellowtail Kingfish, a warm-water species more commonly known as hamachi. Pending permits for Nordic’s ocean discharge and bay intakes are expected to apply modern standards to structures built in an era without environmental protections.
Until the site is fully cleaned up, it will continue to threaten Humboldt Bay’s water quality and habitat. Humboldt Baykeeper will continue to watchdog any and all plans to ensure that the bay and ocean are protected. And until the site is redeveloped, the 1.5-mile long ocean discharge pipe will continue to attract industry, given the barriers to building a new one.
To stay up to date on bay-related news, email us at alerts@humboldtbaykeeper.org or visit our website.