Weyerhaeuser Dedicates New Pulp Mill

Weyerhaeuser Co. on Monday dedicated its new $375 million pulp mill here, saying the facility will be cleaner and more efficient than its old mill.

Weyerhaeuser President and Chief Executive Officer Jack Creighton, U.S. Rep. Linda Smith, R-Wash., and Don Reese, vice president of the Association of Western Pulp and Paper Workers, were among the dignitaries attending the ceremony.

The new mill will produce 1,100 tons of pulp a day, compared with about 800 a day under the old mill.

The new one started up May 11 and gradually came on line while the old mill adjacent to it was decommissioned.

The old mill, built in 1949, will soon be torn down, said Weyerhaeuser spokesman Rullie Harris.

While the new pulp mill won’t create new jobs, it will preserve existing ones, Harris said.

“Without the new pulp mill, the whole complex would have probably had a very uncertain future,” he said.

The Longview complex employs about 1,300 people in pulp paper and packaging.

Weyerhaeuser has touted the modernization project as an example of its commitment to increased environmental awareness and product quality.

The new mill uses less power, water and chemicals per ton of pulp produced, while generating less waste and fewer emissions than the old one, the company said.

For its completion, the pulp mill needed:

2.5 million work-force hours.

20,000 cubic yards of concrete, 25,000 tons worth.

9,400 tons of structural steel.

34 miles of piping.

Weyerhaeuser, which is headquartered in Federal Way, is the world’s largest producer of market pulp.

About 100 workers will be employed at the new mill.