New water quality standards proposed by the federal government for the St. Croix River could cost the Woodland Pulp mill millions of dollars and also could affect a number of communities, including Baileyville and Calais, that discharge wastewater into the river.
     The proposed rule by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) would make more stringent 96 human health criteria as well as other standards related to bacteria, ammonia, pH, temperature, phenol and the state's mixing zone statute. The EPA proposed the water quality standards to address various disapprovals of Maine's standards that the EPA issued last year. The federal agency had disapproved of the state's standards as a result of a lawsuit the state has filed challenging the EPA's authority to set standards in Maine.
     The EPA has identified 33 dischargers to waters in reservations or tribal trust lands or upstream tributaries that are affected by the proposed rule changes. Along with the Woodland Pulp mill, other facilities along the St. Croix that could be affected by the proposal are the Baileyville, Calais and Pleasant Point wastewater treatment plants, the Passamaquoddy Water District, Calais School Department, Washington County Community College and Grand Lake Stream Fish Hatchery.
     Scott Beal, communications manager for Woodland Pulp, states, "If these standards go forward as proposed, it will have an adverse impact on our mill as, but one example, our thermal mixing zone will be eliminated. We've had this in place for over 20 years. Without this in place we are looking at millions of dollars to cool our effluent sufficiently to meet the new temperature limit, and additionally we will then run the risk of our treatment system becoming too cold in winter months to function properly."
     Beal also notes, "Another aspect includes the proposed fish consumption rate, which is nothing short of astonishing and would set a troubling national precedent if it becomes a reality."
     According to the EPA, Maine's current criteria for toxic pollutants are intended to protect residents consuming up to 32.4 grams, or 0.07 pounds, per day of fish. The federal and state statutes that settled the Indian land claims in Maine provide for the four federally recognized tribes to engage in sustenance fishing in waters in tribal lands and all waters subject to the reserved fishing right under the Maine Implementing Act. According to the EPA, the best available data indicate that Maine's tribal sustenance fishers consume more fish than the state's general population. EPA proposes criteria to protect the sustenance fishing use in those waters based on a fish consumption rate that represents an unsuppressed level of fish consumption by the tribes.
     EPA proposes to use a daily fish consumption rate of 284 grams, more than half a pound, which is greater than three servings a day, combined with the most protective risk level. A letter from attorneys Bill Taylor and Matt Manahan of the law firm of Pierce Atwood to parties interested in joining a coalition to oppose the rule changes states,       "The use of a 284 grams per day fish consumption rate and other proposed changes on aquatic life impacts would establish an unsupported, unscientific basis for further water-quality rulemakings."
     Concerning the pulp mill's compliance with the state's current water quality regulations, Beal says, "Our discharges to the receiving waters of the St. Croix are in substantial compliance. We're not perfect, but our compliance track record is solid."
      Baileyville Town Manager Richard Bronson comments that both Baileyville and Calais could have "real hurdles to get over" if the proposed rules are enforced, with substantial funding needed to upgrade the treatment plants. He maintains that the proposal would seek to have the water downstream from the pulp mill meet standards that the water above the mill does not meet. "They're trying to clean the river to a standard that may be arbitrary and artificial," he says. The town manager believes that there is a "secret agenda" and that "some people would like to see the pulp mill go away."
     Annaleis Hafford of the environmental engineering firm of Olver Associates of Winterport, which includes the Baileyville and Calais wastewater treatment plants among its clients, says the EPA's proposal would change the health-related standards for heavy metals such as arsenic and copper that are already difficult to meet, since they may come from natural sources such as granite rock and are in the groundwater. She notes that both treatment plants are "in complete compliance with the current standards." Previously, Calais had to upgrade its plant to minimize combined sewer overflows that discharged stormwater and untreated wastewater, and Hafford believes that the city would not want "to spend a penny on this." She adds, "It won't improve anything for anybody."
      In a written commentary on the EPA's proposal, Jay Beaudoin, environmental superintendent at Woodland Pulp, maintains that, while sustenance fishing rights are affirmed for the Passamaquoddys and the Penobscots, there are no reservation or trust lands affected by the Woodland mill's discharge. The State of Maine took ownership of the river bed in the 1980s, which differs from typical state property law where the riparian owner owns to the middle of the stream.
     Beaudoin also argues that the proposed rule significantly alters Maine's mixing zone law. The Woodland mill was issued a thermal mixing zone license in 1996 after a determination was made under Maine law that this mixing zone was reasonable. He writes, "If the U.S. EPA is successful in their efforts to adopt their proposed changes, Woodland Pulp will be required to invest significant dollars in studies, equipment installation and or upgrades / retrofits." The EPA's estimate of the cost is $4.9 million, but Beaudoin says the mill disagrees with some of the EPA's assumptions on costs.
     Beaudoin also writes, "The disapproval of the state's mixing zone law is for the purposes of bio‑accumulating pollutants. Temperature is not a bio‑accumulating pollutant. Maine rules deal with mixing zone bio‑accumulating pollutants, which EPA does not address. Inclusion of Woodland Pulp's thermal mixing zone in this proposed rule will significantly harm the mill's and local economic outlook."
     Beaudoin adds, "Additionally, the EPA has reserved the right, pending further analysis, to disapprove Maine's arsenic criteria. This change will result in nearly every industrial and public discharger in the state having arsenic limits that are difficult or impossible to meet."
      The Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Attorney General's Office asked the Pierce Atwood law firm to support them in filing comments opposing the proposed rule. The deadline for comments was June 20.

Dam licensing dispute
     Another dispute the Woodland mill is having with the federal government is the ongoing fight over licensing requirements by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) for three water storage dams on the St. Croix River. In March, FERC had denied Woodland Pulp's request for a rehearing on a new license for its Forest City dam, which the mill maintains will increase its operational costs to a significant degree. The other dams are at West Grand Lake and Vanceboro. The licenses for the West Grand Lake and Forest City dams expired in 2000, and Woodland Pulp has been receiving annual extensions from FERC for them. The licenses for the Vanceboro dam expires this year.
Woodland Pulp has been seeking to have the dams no longer be under FERC jurisdiction, arguing that they contribute very little to the power generation downstream. The company's dams at Grand Falls and Woodland are used to generate power and are exempt from FERC licensing. Scott Beal comments that Woodland Pulp's analyses "have repeatedly demonstrated, and as FERC knows, these storage dams contribute an absolute minimum amount to downstream power production."
     In response to the mill's concerns, Congressman Bruce Poliquin recently introduced legislation that would clarify that the three upstream dams are exempt from FERC regulations. Beal notes that the legislation states that "these three storage dams would forever be exempt from FERC jurisdiction, which we believe was the original intent of the legislation that authorized Woodland and Grand Falls in August of 1916. In fact FERC, in response to our petition seeking a non‑jurisdictional ruling, issued an affirmative decision in 1997. The following year, they changed their mind and revoked their earlier ruling."
     Poliquin states, "With the issuance of the recent FERC orders for the three storage dams, the additional cost imposed on the owner by these operating licenses is untenable. In fact, these new orders may well force Woodland Pulp to consider surrendering its FERC licenses for these dams. Based on FERC's own calculations, these new licenses will increase the cost to the mill by more than $1,000,000 per year. These new orders are issued at a time when the pulp and paper industry in Maine has experienced significant pressure to remain competitive and viable." He adds, "These mills, which employ 400 hardworking Mainers, are economic engines in the region and must have the opportunity to grow."
     Without FERC licensing, Woodland Pulp maintains that it would continue to meet current FERC regulations concerning minimum flows and water elevations. Beal says, "We would continue to operate the system essentially the way we have since the mid-1990s. With only minor adjustments, the hydro system's operational plans were developed by using a hydrological model, called REGUSE, developed by or for the International Joint Commission (IJC)."
     Poliquin states, "These projects could certainly be regulated by the State of Maine without FERC, and the dams will continue to operate as they have always operated, in a safe and environmentally responsible way for flood control and for benefiting world-class fisheries, sportsmen, camp owners and other recreational users." He adds, "The high licensing costs could force Woodland Pulp to abandon their storage dams, which, according to FERC, would require the dam gates to be pulled and their impoundments de‑watered. This would be devastating and would forever change the region's ecology."
     Baileyville Town Manager Bronson comments that if the dam gates were pulled the St. Croix River "will be a brook in August. That's where we're headed if a small minority of folks get their way."