Potlatch Will Pay $90,000 Waste Settlement

The Potlatch Corp. has agreed to pay $90,000 in fines for alleged hazardous waste violations at its Lewiston pulp and paperboard plant.

The alleged violations occurred between 1996 and 1998 and involved ash from a wood-fired boiler, said Brian Monson, hazardous waste program manager at the Idaho Division of Environmental Quality.

On nine occasions, an ash solution put into settling ponds had such a high pH level that it was corrosive, Monson said.

Potlatch eliminated the problem with a $1.5 million treatment system installed last July, said Alan Prouty, the company’s environmental engineering manager.

Before the new system was installed, the ashes - alkaline in nature - were mixed with water and chemical neutralizer and poured into the settling ponds. The new system eliminates most of the water and disposes of the dry ashes in a landfill, Prouty said.

The system is less vulnerable to the mechanical breakdowns that created the problem, he said. It also reduced water use dramatically at the plant.

In addition to paying the fine, Potlatch agreed to sample soils and groundwater near the ash settling ponds and do necessary clean up.

Potlatch was also cited for improper storage of spent fluorescent light bulbs that may have contained mercury.

In other news, Interstate Concrete & Asphalt agreed to pay $4,186 for an air-quality violation at Hot-Mix Asphalt in Sandpoint.

The company was cited for failing to conduct an annual test on material coming from its smokestack.

The company alerted the state of Idaho it was out of compliance, and agreed to do the test and pay the fine.