Environment Georgia Pacific Responds to St. John's River Issue

BRADENTON – A recent guest op/ed in TBT described complaints by Environmental advocates over Georgia Pacific's Palatka, FL mill. The company took the time to respond to the piece, arguing many of the issues at hand, while describing a company standard of environmental responsibility in the communities where they do business.

The letter appears below:

Dear Editor,

As head of public affairs for Georgia-Pacific’s Palatka Operation, I would like to respond to the
recent article published in the May 30 edition of The Bradenton Times, ”St Johns River
Advocates Ask Trustees to Protect Public Resources.“ It is important to me that concerned
individuals have access to information that accurately represents this issue.

The Palatka mill has discharged its treated mill effluent to Rice Creek since the facility was
constructed in the 1940s. Rice Creek is a small tributary that directly enters the St. Johns River
just north of Palatka. This is not a new operation, a new discharge or an enhanced impact on the
St. Johns River. In fact, the volume of our discharge is 40 percent less than it was 10 years ago.
Since the 1990s, Georgia-Pacific has worked cooperatively with our community and the Florida
Department of Environmental Protection, along with the U.S. EPA, to make extensive
improvements to our operations and minimize our impact on Rice Creek and the St. Johns River.

During that time, the company has invested more than $200 million at the Palatka facility to
improve the quality of our wastewater. Many of the modifications were above and beyond those
required to meet existing wastewater standards. But even after all that work, the water we return
to the environment is darker than allowed in Rice Creek because of the natural color of the wood
we use to make our products, and it is slightly saltier than the fresh water in the creek. These
two factors are not an issue in the St. Johns River because it is naturally darker in color and
already slightly saltier due to the influence of tides from the Atlantic Ocean.

Georgia-Pacific is required by an Administrative Order to build a four-mile pipeline to relocate
the Palatka mill’s treated wastewater entry point into the main stem of the St. Johns River. As
part of this project, Georgia-Pacific received a Submerged Lands Easement from the Governor
and Cabinet in June 2003. The order granting this easement was not appealed. An easement is
not required under state law or rule for use of waters or a mixing zone, which is what is being
claimed in the filing.

Mixing zones are routinely included in wastewater permits. And, as is true with any state with
an EPA-approved program, the Florida Department of Environmental Protection has authority to
grant permits and mixing zones in state waters. This is a practice that is fundamental to
environmental permitting practices used across the state and the country. It is not solely a
Georgia-Pacific issue, and, therefore, would affect nearly all industry and municipalities with
discharge.

More than 1,000 Floridians come to work each and every day at our Palatka facility, just as they
have for nearly 70 years. Those same Floridians play, fish and boat on our local waterways.
They care deeply about our community, our environment and their company. While this is a
complex issue, Georgia-Pacific continues to stand by its commitment – to operate in a safe and
environmentally responsible manner that demonstrates our respect for the communities in which
we live.

Trish Bowles
Palatka, FL