Nova Scotia orders Northern Pulp mill in Abercrombie Point to install air pollution equipment after company misses January deadline; documents show boiler's scrubber broke down in 2006, stack's particulate emissions have exceeded permit levels for years

Sandy Yang

LOS ANGELES , April 18, 2012 (Industry Intelligence) – The province of Nova Scotia has ordered Northern Pulp Nova Scotia Corp. in Abercrombie Point to install air pollution equipment after the company missed a deadline earlier this year, CBC News reported on April 18.

The order was given six years after a scrubber broke down.

A new operating permit the province issued last May imposed dozens of conditions on the mill, most of which the company has met.

But when it missed a January deadline to clean up its power boiler, the province issued a rare directive to fix the problem.

Documents released to CBC show the boiler’s scrubber quit functioning in 2006 and that the stack’s particulate emissions have exceeded permit levels for years.

Of concern to the province are the small ash particles from the burning of wood waste in the boiler, which go up the stack.

The province’s environmental minister, Sterling Belliveau, said previous governments had not dealt with the issue but that this government was doing so.

Northern Pulp did not respond to requests by the CBC for comment.

In 2011, Northern Pulp received C$28 million from the government to improve its environmental performance.

The primary source of this article is CBC News, Toronto, Ontario, on April 18, 2012.

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