DHEC will open public comment on New Indy plant discharge permit for first time in 13 years
The New-Indy Catawba LLC paper plant in Catawba, S.C., has applied for an updated National Pollution Discharge Elimination System permit, state officials say.
The federally-required permit outlines what chemicals New-Indy can release, in what quantity and how the chemicals are discharged in the Catawba River. The permit also will tell how often the facility must test its wastewater.
New-Indy has been operating under the current NPDES permit since 2009. The South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control says the permit expired September 2014.
However, DHEC says it’s legal for New-Indy to operate under what the agency describes as an expired permit, if the company has submitted a renewal application.
“In the case of New-Indy, DHEC received an administratively complete renewal application from the former owner of the facility on March 31, 2014, thereby extending the extended permit,” a DHEC representative said.
The site was run in 2009 by another company, known as AbitibiBowater, which would later become Resolute Forest Products Inc., and then New-Indy.
“The permit renewal situation is not unique to New-Indy or the Catawba mill,” a representative from New-Indy said. “DHEC does not issue a new permit without reviewing the renewal application. In the meantime, the agency allows a facility to operate under a permit that has expired so long as the permit holder has submitted a renewal application on time. We understand that this is permitted by federal law and is a common and accepted practice in many jurisdictions.”
NPDES permits apply only to pollution discharged in waterways.
As part of the NPDES permitting process, there must be a period when the public can review a draft of the facility’s application. DHEC also is required to allow a period for public comments. That period will come this fall.
That will be the first time for public comment since 2009 related to what’s discharged in waterways.
New-Indy has come under fire for the past year. The state has received reports of foul odors coming from the plant site. A class action lawsuit by people impacted by emissions from the plant has been filed against the company. The Environmental Protection Agency is preparing an order to impose stricter regulations on air emissions released at the plant.
At a public hearing earlier this year, it became clear that residents within 25 miles of the plant, in both Carolinas, are concerned and angry about possible pollutants released from New-Indy, in both the air and wastewater.
When New Indy took control of the plant in 2018 the site changed from making bleached paper to brown kraft paper. The respective paper types yield different byproducts.
One permit in 13 years
The DHEC permits must be resubmitted when they expire every five years to ensure companies meet the standards of the Federal Clean Water Act.
In the case of New-Indy, DHEC has renewed the same NPDES permit for the past 13 years.
The only modification made to the permit came in 2019, reflecting that New-Indy purchased the property from Resolute Forest Products, according to DHEC. The amount of chemicals New-Indy is allowed to discharge, according to the permit, and which kinds of chemicals it can discharge have not been changed.
The existing permit lists the manufacturing of “bleached paper,” though New-Indy currently manufactures brown kraft paper.
The switch to brown paper meant New-Indy would face “less stringent limits than the existing permit, per federal regulations,” according to DHEC. And the agency ordered inspections to ensure the guidelines in the 2009 permit were still appropriate.
“... DHEC conducted routine inspections for the NPDES permit and required the facility to submit monthly discharge reports for the parameters specified within the permit,” a representative with DHEC said.
The application now under consideration will be updated and specific to New-Indy.
How to be heard
Public comment on the NPDES permit will not pertain to concerns regarding air pollution. New-Indy’s new application will only outline how the facility deals with what New-Indy discharges in the water.
However, if you smell odors in the area surrounding New-Indy, you can submit a report on DHEC’s website. Public comments also can also be submitted to NewIndyQuestions@dhec.sc.gov.
This story was originally published March 11, 2022 at 4:34 PM.
