Environmental Issues In Paper Industry Essay Example

Currently many pulp and paper companies are releasing dangerous substances into the surrounding air, water and land which could prove to have severely detrimental side effects on the health and well being of workers, nearby communities and ecosystems. Due to these consequences and the present absence of guidance or acknowledgement towards these issues I have contacted you to ask you to ensure the proper handling and disposal of effluent from all plants including the one situated in my town (clifford pulp and paper plant)  which I have been regrettably witnessing the effects of.

During the process of the production of pulp and paper, several dangerous substances are released. These substances can cause a variety of negative health impacts on both workers and residents near the plant. So far it has been discovered that approximately 250 chemicals are formed during the making of pulp and paper, many of them being toxic such as carcinogens and sulphates. Once these compounds are created they are then put out into either air emissions, water effluents or into the ground. Doing so causes significant damage to the air quality, water supply and food chain therefore endangering the health of all dependant ecosystems and individuals. In the fault of the chemicals being released there have been significant links between pulp and paper plants and respiratory issues among the employees, such as pleural based cancers, it has even been proved that pleural cancer is twice more likely to occur when exposed to the chemicals produced in these plants. Although surprisingly there are no found connections of lung cancer with the production of paper, there are connections between lung cancer and the exposure to carcinogens. Due to this connection I advise you of the extreme importance of making sure the toxic substances created in this industry are heavily watched and secured to ensure that no workers are exposed is them, for me considering  that Clifford pulp and paper plant is the largest employer of my town and pleural and lung cancers are notably deadly this is a major concern for the safety and protection of me and my fellow residents. Adding to the risks that these plants impose on health is the fact that canada’s pulp and paper industry is to blame for 10 percent of the industrial particulate matter released. These fine particulate matter in the air are substantially dangerous to the respiratory systems as they could possibly perforate it resulting in severe health consequences. Pulp and paper plants as a whole are very adverse to the wellbeing of all people involved and therefore the government should reconsider and evaluate their current regulations towards this matter.

The pulp and paper industry is the third largest polluter to the air, water and land in North America. As a result of all this pollution there are a multitude of adverse effects, these effects being aquatic contamination, air pollution and the use of resources such as trees and freshwater. There are three dominant processes in the creation of paper, Kraft (Uses a highly alkaline sodium sulfite solution with heat and pressure in the acid digestion of wood chips), Sulfite (Uses a sulphate of ammonia, sodium, calcium or magnesium in the acid digestion of wood chips ) and mechanical (mechanically grinds wood into ground wood pulp). As mentioned before the toxic components released during these processes, the most common being toxic chlorinated compounds from the bleaching process, fatty acids and resin acids from the wood pulp, airborne dioxins and furans and heavy metals impose a severe threat to the surrounding systems. Even though in the past decade the government has tightened restrictions about the treating of effluent and it is now a common practice, the treatment only reduces the toxicity it does not eliminate it, therefore it still constitutes a danger towards the natural surrounding specifically the aquatic environment. Alarmingly each canadian mill produces an average of forty tonnes of sludge each day, most often disposed into nearby lakes and rivers, for instance my neighbouring river. This is worrisome because even untreated effluent in water at concentrations as low as 2 percent can cause side effects towards the aquatic wildlife. Some side effects of the contaminated water on the organisms within it are reproductive impairments particularly to zooplankton, shellfish and invertebrates which are significant as a food source and genetic and immune system damage on different species of fish. These consequences can last for years not only killing present fish but also affecting its future offspring. Not only do pulp and paper plants contribute to the pollution of aquatic ecosystems but they also play a significant role on the release of climate change causing carcinogens into the air. Their role is so significant that pulp mills are accounted as the largest source of airborne dioxins and furans, shown by the study In 2006 revealing that the canadian pulp and paper industry put out 60,000 tonnes of sulfur oxide into the atmosphere per year. Something that many don’t know is the amount of resources it takes to produce the paper, to put it into perspective one A4 piece of paper requires ten litres of fresh water. The consummation of fresh water rapidly reduces the amount of water in nearby water supplies changing the temperature and level of the water needed by fish and kelp to survive. The consummation of forests is also necessary for the production of paper but detrimental to the ecosystem. Roughly 40 percent of the world's cut timber is used in the production of paper and with the growth of paper plants estimated to be around 3 percent annually, around 1.2 million hectares are going to be deforested each year. This immense quantity and use of resources for the sake of pulp and paper plants is why it is necessary for the government to closely monitor what is being released into all the systems or used up by these mills.

As I'm sure you're aware, just down the river from the Clifford pulp and paper plant in my town is a first natives reserve. This reserve is heavily subject to the river as they use it for an abundance or reasons. The first natives in the area depend on the river's freshwater for clean water, for recreational activities and for fishing, which is extremely important as it is a major source of their food supply and for work. Since the pulp and paper mill opened the water has been increasingly more polluted due to the toxic effluents not being properly overviewed, gradually killing all the aquatic life and ruining the cleanliness of the water, effecting the first natives way of life. Without their fishing industry the first natives will suffer financially not to mention their way of living off the land will be deeply violated. Not only will their business and food source be affecting but also so would the overall appearance of their land. When paper mills dispose of sulfur into the river it eventually causes the water to turn black and causes a strong bad odor. If not properly dealt with, these plants will unfairly ruin their land, completely ignoring and dismissing their rights. With no proper monitoring over pulp and paper plants a chemical spill is more at risk to occur potentially making the area unlivable. Unfortunately this would not be the first occurrence of this. In 2014 the Mi-Kmaq people in Nova Scotia were struggling with the same issues as the first natives down my town's river, their neighbourhood pulp and paper mill was slowly destroying their lands without much repercussion from the government. To impose change it took 47 million litres of untreated toxic effluent to spill across the Pictou First nations sacred burial lands. I implore you to not make the same mistake again and to consider the repercussion of not properly surveilling the effluent from pulp and paper plants.