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GPHVSDioxinResultsQ&A

Whatisbeingannounced?

TheU.S.EnvironmentalProtectionAgency(EPA)hasissuedareportprovidingresultsofwaterquality

samplescollected

in

September

2008

and

subsequently

analyzed

for

dioxins

from

the

Georgia

Pacific

(GP)papermillwastewatereffluent.

Inthesummerof2008,theFloridaDepartmentofEnvironmentalProtectionrequestedthattheEPA

sampletheGPdischargefordioxinusingarelativelynewandsensitivesamplingtechniqueknownas

highvolumesampling,orHVS. PrevioustestingoftheGPdischargeusingthestandardEPAapproved

samplingandanalyticalmethodsdidnotdetectdioxinintheGPwastewaterdischarge.

However,fishtissuesamplespreviouslycollectedandanalyzedfromRiceCreekhaveindicatedthat

dioxincouldpotentiallybepresentinthewatersofRiceCreekabovetheEPAspromulgatedwater

qualitystandardof0.014picograms/liter(pg/lorpartsperquadrillion)for2,3,7,8tetrachlorodibenzop

dioxin(2,3,7,8TCDD).

AsGP

has

requested

arenewal

of

their

National

Pollutant

Discharge

Elimination

System

(NPDES)

permit,

whichisrequiredtodischargetheirwastewaterintoFloridassurfacewaters,theDEPrequestedthis

specialsamplingtobetterunderstandthecharacteristicsandpotentialimpactsofGPseffluent.

WhatisHVS?

EPAsfederaldioxinwaterqualitycriterionandambientwatercolumnconcentrationsarewellbelow

thecurrentlyapprovedreportinglimitof10partsperquadrillion(ppq).Highvolumesampling(HVS),

however,isanewapproachatthisfacilityandwhich,forthefirsttime,allowsforthemeasurementof

dioxinlevelsatextremelylowconcentrationsthatarebelowtheEPAwaterqualitycriterion.

Thisisaccomplishedbydrawingaverylargevolumeofwaterfirstthroughglassfiberfilters,which

separateand

collect

the

suspended

solids.

The

filtered

water

then

passes

through

special

resin

columns

thatextractthedioxininthedissolvedphase.Thefiltersandcolumnsarethenanalyzedseparatelyto

quantifydioxinlevelsinboththeparticulateanddissolvedphases.

HVSsamplinghashadlimiteduseintheU.S.;however,interestinthistechnique,isincreasingdue

toitspotentialtoallowthedetectionofcertainpollutantsatextremelylowconcentrations.

WhatweretheresultsfromtheEPAsHVSsampling?

EPAsampledboththeGPdischargeandwaterfromOrangeCreek,anearbyreferencestreamthatisnot

expectedtobeimpactedbytheGPdischarge,andwouldthereforeberepresentativeofnatural

conditions

in

Northeast

Florida

streams.

Duplicate

samples

were

also

collected

from

the

GP

discharge

andOrangeCreek.

Therewerenodetectionsof2,3,7,8TCDDfromthesamplescollectedfromOrangeCreek. However,

boththesampleandduplicatesamplecollectedfromtheGeorgiaPacificeffluentcontained

concentrationsof2,3,7,8TCDDwhichwerehigherthantheEPAwaterqualitycriterionfor2,3,7,8TCDD

of0.014pg/l. TheEPAcriteriaforthiscompoundisbasedonanannualaveragecondition,therefore

thissinglesamplingeventbyitselfisnotsufficienttoconcludeacriteriaexceedance. Thefollowing

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chartsummarizesthesamplingresultsandincludesthetotalconcentrationof2,3,7,8TCDDalongwith

theconcentrationsfoundinboththedissolvedandparticulatephasesofthesamples.

Resultsfor2,3,7,8TCDD

SampleLocation Units Dissolved

Phase

Particulate

PhaseTotal

OrangeCreek pg/l 0.002U 0.002U 0.002U

OrangeCreek duplicatesample pg/l 0.002U 0.002U 0.002U

GeorgiaPacificDischarge pg/l 0.014 0.063 0.077

GeorgiaPacificDischarge duplicatesample pg/l 0.014 0.028 0.042

U2,3,7,8TCDDwasnotdetectedatorabovetheanalyticalmethodreportinglimit.

EPAwaterqualitycriterion 0.014pg/l

About75%ofthereporteddioxinwasfoundtobeintheparticulatephase.

Whataredioxinsand2,3,7,8TCDD?

Thepresenceofdioxinsintheenvironmenthasattractedconsiderableattentionoverthelastdecade

fromboththepublicandscientificcommunity,andhasbeenthefocusofintenseresearch. Dioxinshave

existedin

our

environment

for

along

time

and

we

all

have

some

levels

of

dioxins

in

our

bodies

and

it

existsnaturallyinvaryingbackgroundlevels,throughouttheenvironment.

Whenfoundintheenvironment,dioxinsareusuallyamixtureofchlorinateddioxins,furans,andsome

polychlorinatedbiphenyls(PCBs).Dioxinsarenotintentionallyproducedandhavenoknownuse.Notall

dioxinshavethesametoxicityorabilitytocauseillnessandadversehealtheffects.Historically,

commercialormunicipalwasteincineration,manufactureanduseofcertainherbicidesandchlorine

bleachingofpulpandpaperwerethemajorsourcesofdioxinstotheairandwater.IntheUS,regulatory

actionsalongwithvoluntaryactionsfromindustrieshasresultedinsignificantreductionsfromthese

sources.

The

uncontrolled

burning

of

residential

waste

is

thought

to

be

the

largest

source

of

dioxins

to

the

environmentintheUStoday. Thefollowingchartsummarizestherelativecontributionsofvarious

sourcesofdioxinstotheenvironmentintheUSbasedondatacollectedbytheEPAin2000.

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Itisnotknownwhetherpeopleexposedtolowlevelsofdioxinswillexperiencethesamehealtheffects

seeninanimalstudies.However,basedontheavailableinformation,dioxinsarebelievedtohavethe

potentialtocauseawiderangeofadverseeffectsinhumans,includingcancer.TheEPAhas

characterizedthemixtureofdioxinstowhichpeoplearecommonlyexposedas"likelyhuman

carcinogens."TheEPAhasalsocharacterized2,3,7,8TCDDasa"humancarcinogen."

TheEPA,

U.

S.

Department

of

Health

and

Human

Services,

U.

S.

Department

of

Agriculture,

and

other

federal

agencieshavedevelopedacomprehensiveseriesofquestionsandanswersondioxins,theirhealth

effects,andstepsthatpeoplecantaketolimittheirexposuretothesecompounds.Thisinformation

canbeaccessedat:

http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~lrd/dioxinqa.html

ShouldpeopleeatfishfromRiceCreek?

Theprimaryexposurepathwayforpeopleisfromtheconsumptionofanimalfats,asdioxinsmaybe

concentratedinthefoodchainsothatanimalshavehigherconcentrationsthantheplants,water,soil,

orsedimentsaroundthem(referredtoasbioaccumulation).

TheFloridaDepartmentofHealth(FDOH)hadpreviouslyreviewedfishtissuesamplescollectedand

analyzedfromRiceCreekandtheSt.JohnsRiveranddeterminedthelevelsfounddonotconstitutea

potentialhealthhazardthatwouldwarranttheneedforafishconsumptionadvisory.

GPisrequiredtoannuallyassessthelevelsofdioxininfishfromRiceCreek. Personswishingtolimit

theirexposuretodioxinsshouldreviewthedocumentaboveorcontacttheirlocalFDOHofficefor

furtheradvice.

35%

26.6%

6.3%

5.9%

4.9%

4.6%

2.9%

2.3% 2.1%

1.9%

7.3%

0.1%DioxinSources2000 Backyardbarrelburning

Medicalwaste

MunicipalWWtreatment

sludgeMunicipalwaste

combustionCoalfiredutilityboilers

Dieselheavydutytrucks

Industrialwood

combustionDieseloffroadequipment

Ethylenedichloride/vinyl

chlorideproduction

Sintering

plants

other

Bleachedchemicalwood

pulpandpapermills

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ToviewFloridafishconsumptionadvisoryinformationvisit:www.doh.state.fl.us/floridafishadvice.

WhatactionshasGPtakentoreducedioxinintheirwastewater?

GPhasinvestedmorethan$200milliondollarsoverthelastseveralyearsinmanufacturing

improvementsat

its

Palatka

facility

that

have

resulted

in

significant

improvements

in

the

quality

oftheirdischargetoRiceCreek,including:

a.Installationofanenhanced(i.e.twostage)oxygendelignificationsystem;

b.Replacementofexistingbrownstockwashinglineswithnewbrownstock

washingsystems;

c.Installationofgreenliquordregsfilter;

d.Minimizationofallpulpingliquorleaksandspills;

e.Handlingthechlorinedioxidegeneratorwaste(i.e.saltcake);

f.Evaluatingthepotentialforaviable,longtermsustainablemarketforsuch

material;and

g.

Assessing

alternative

technologies

for

treating

such

materials.

GPcurrentlymeetsorexceedsallEPArequirementsintendedtominimizetheformationofdioxins.

However,thenewHVSsamplingresultssuggeststhatdioxinshavenotbeenentirelyeliminatedfrom

theGPwastewaterdischargeandthatfurtheractionsbythecompanymaybepossibletoaddressthe

findingsofthereport.

WhatwillDEPdowiththeHVSResults?

TheHVStechniquefordioxinisconsideredbyDEPtobeaResearchMethoduntilsufficientdataare

availabletovalidateitsuse.Therefore,theHVSresultscannotbeusedforcomplianceorenforcement

purposes. However,DEPcanusetheHVSresults,alongwithotherrelevantinformation,tobetter

assessthe

potential

impacts

of

GPs

current

discharge

to

Rice

Creek

and

the

relocation

of

the

discharge

totheSt.JohnsRiver. Hydrologicandwaterqualitymodelingisalsobeingconductedtoprovide

additionalinsightsonpotentialexposurepathways. Thisreportisjustonemorepieceofamuchlarger

puzzle.OurunderstandingofthesourcesandpathwaysbywhichdioxinsareintroducedintoRiceCreek

andtheSt.JohnsRiverandhowthesechemicalsaresubsequentlybioaccumulatedinfishisstillquite

limited. However,DEPbelievesthattheEPAHVSsamplingeffortwasanecessarystepinaneffortto

betterunderstandtheseissues.

DEPhasconfidenceintheEPAreportandbelievestheresultsindicatethatsomelevelofdioxinsremain

intheGPwastewaterdespitetheireffortstominimizedioxinandotherwiseimprovethequalityofits

wastewaterdischargethroughthecompanysprocessimprovements.DEPcannowdiscussthese

findingswith

GP

and

explore

opportunities

for

additional

treatment

or

process

changes

to

further

reducedioxinlevelsintheeffluent.