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Water
quality is affected by both the quantity and the quality
of mills effluents, which are composed of water and residue
from the pulp and paper making process. The effluents may
contain chemical compounds as well as natural substances
such as particles of wood fibre. Biological treatment systems
for wastewater destroy the organic matter and eliminate
toxicity in order to purify the wastewater that is directed
back into rivers, lakes and oceans.
Fish
habitat and EEM
Established in
1992 by Environment Canada, the Environmental Effects Monitoring
program (EEM) requires Canadian pulp and paper mills to
carry out research studies of the receiving bodies of water
in the aim of evaluating and monitoring the future effects
of wastewater dispersed into the environment. The program
allows Environment Canada to evaluate whether or not the
discharge standards in effect at the plant are protecting
the environment efficiently. It follows sequences of monitoring
and analysis, called cycles, that last from three to four
years. At the start of each cycle, the plant works out
its local EEM schedule with the help of regional officers
from Environment Canada. This schedule will include toxicity
tests on discharges of treated wastewater (e.g. exposure
of fish to water discharged by the plant, analysis of reproduction,
growth and survival rates, etc.). We also monitor the health
of fish and benthic invertebrates (bottom-living animals)
in the receiving body of water (the Lièvre River,
in our case). Papier Masson carried out the first monitoring
cycle between 1994 and 1996 and the second between 1996
and 2000; the third began in 2001 and will finish in 2004.
Canada is the
only nation in the world to have established a program
of this type. And the pulp and paper industry is the first
industrial sector in Canada to have developed a national
EEM program.
4 Environmental
Progress Report 2000–2001, Forest Products Association
of Canada. |
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Improving
the state of the environment
The
first EEM cycle, begun in 1994, allowed Papier Masson
to gain a first look at the aquatic environment of the
Lièvre River, into which our wastewater was discharged
before the treatment system was implemented in 1995.
The results of the second cycle (1996–2000) showed
a distinct trend towards the reduction of discharge-related
impact on the environment of the Lièvre following
installation of the treatment system. The third EEM cycle,
done in 2001, confirmed there’s no adverse affects
on fish and benthic invertebrates exposed to Papier Masson’s
discharged of treated wastewater into La Lièvre
River.
Photo
: treatment outlet for wastewater.
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