EPA to remove 4 million gallons of toxic pulping liquors from former pulp mill site in Samoa, California, ship liquid to pulp mill in Longview, Washington; emergency effort undertaken to avert liquors leaching from leaky, corroded tanks into nearby bay

Debra Garcia

SAMOA, California , November 10, 2013 (Associated Press) – EPA TO CLEAN UP ABANDONED PULP MILL THAT POSES POLLUTION THREAT TO HUMBOLDT BAY

Federal environmental regulators have initiated an emergency effort to remove millions of gallons of toxic liquids from an abandoned pulp mill that poses a pollution threat to Humboldt Bay. The Eureka Times-Standard reports ( http://bit.ly/18jFTON ) that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to remove more than 4 million gallons of pulping liquors from the old mill site.

EPA on-scene coordinator Steve Canalog says the leaky, corroded tanks at the old mill present an imminent threat to people and the environment around Humboldt Bay.

The agency, which has secured the site, plans to empty the tanks and move the liquid by barge to a pulp mill in Longview, Wash., which will reuse them.

Officials were concerned that an earthquake could cause a large spill, which would devastate the Humboldt Bay seafood industry.

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Information from: Times-Standard, http://www.times-standard.com