’

THE WESTERN CANADIAN LUMBER WORKER

OPERATION “DEEP WELL”

PORT ALBERNI LABOUR COUNCIL
SEEKS PURE AIR AND WATER

Mounting concern over the water and air pollution in
the Alberni Valley prompted the Port Alberni and District
Labour Council to recently forward to the Hon. R. Wil-
liston, Minister of Lands and Forests, the following article

from the Canadian Pulp

; & Paper Industry magazine
showing the latest method devised to check water

pollu-

tion, in the hope that his department might find such a
project feasible in ridding the Alberni Valley of its water

pollution problem.
*

Hon. R. Williston,

ey

Minister of Lands, Forests and Water Resources,

Parliament Buildings,
Victoria, B.C.
“Dear Sir:

Thank you for your letter of March 4th in which
you point out that you have given assurance to the
Provincial Legislature that once administration action
had been taken relating to water pollution problems

matter of air pollution.

that attention would be given to the more complex

We of the Alberni Valley are pleased to hear that
your Government will take action with regard to water
and air pollution as we have more than our share of
both of these problems due to the large pulp and sawmill
operations discharging effluent in the Alberni Canal
and polluting the air with fallout.

I am enclosing, for your information, a photocopy of
an article from the Canadian Pulp & Paper Industry
magazine which indicates that there is already legisla-
tion in some States of the U.S. that forces papermill
companies to find methods other than public waterways
for the disposal of their effluent or else close down the

operation.

We of the Alberni Valley would appreciate your
Department conducting a survey on this ‘deep well’
method to find out if it would be feasible in this part

of the country.”

TECHNIQUE

By ROBERT DYMENT

PERATION deep well is
underway! During July,
1964, Hammermill Paper
Company, Erie, Pennsylvania
— one of the world’s largest
paper manufacturers—placed
in operation the first of a pro-
posed series of deep disposal
wells designed to stop the
discharge into Lake Erie of
objectionable effluent from
their pulp-producing ovpera-
tion. The use of deep wells by
’ manufacturing industries for
the elimination of wastes is
comparatively recent.

The well, which will carry
500,000 gallons of the pulping
“liquor” daily to a _brine-
bearing limestone formation
some 1,600 feet below the sur-
face, is the first of four wells

that by early 1965 will handle’

some two million gallons per
day. With the successful com-
pletion and start-up of Ham-
mermill No. 1, the company
also announced that the
second well in the series is
now being drilled to an even
deeper formation that might
provide many times the capa-
city of the first.

Donald S. Leslie, chairman
of Hammermill Paper Com-
pany, said:

“The idea of burying the
effluent underground, beneath
our Erie location, was sug-
gested by Dow Industrial Ser-
vices, a division of Dow

Respectfully yours,
M. J. CORBEIL,

Secretary-Treasurer.

WA

Chemical Company. Dow has
made use of the deep-well dis-
vosal to rid itself of unwanted
liquid wastes at its chemical
production locations at Mid-
land. Michigan.”

The two million gallons to
be handled by the wells rep-
resent the major part of the
mill’s pulping effluent that is
subject to abatement or treat-
ment orders by the Pennsyl-
vania State Sanitary Board.
Hammermill is under State

orders to provide complete
treatment of these wastes by

December 31, 1965, or abate
the discharge into Lake Erie.

The orders had threatened -

the existence of the huge
papermaker’s integrated facil-
ities at this Lake Erie city.
The technique starts with
the drilling of a well to the
limestone formation. Hydro-
chloric acid is then pumped
into the well to “open” the
pores in the limestone to ac-
cept the wastes. The wastes

-are then pumped in under

pressure.

Since the brine - limestone
“horizons” are completely en-
closed by rock formations,
there is no danger of the in-
dustrial wastes affecting any
mineral deposits. The depth
of the formations precludes
any harm to surface waters.
The formations of brine and
limestone cover many thou-
sands of square miles, and
predictions are that com-
panies can use these for liq-

uid waste disposal for liter-
ally hundreds of years.

The deep well disposal sys-
tem is a method of injecting
liquids into deep underground
“horizons” of salt water bear-
ing limestone. The limestone,
while appearing solid to the
human eye, is in reality some-
what like a ‘petrified sponge’,
with literally millions of
minute pores amounting to as
much as one-half of the total
volume of the stone.

Drilling this well, the first
ever to be used for paper
pulping wastes, began early
in 1963. After confirming the
existence of the necessary ab-
sorbent limestone formation,
the drillers also found that
the geological condition of the
formation and the earth on
top met the four necessary
conditions specified by Dow
geologists and the Pennsyl-
vania State Sanitary Water
Board.

First it was essential that
no usable water or minerals
be encountered during the
drilling operation. In the case
of Hammermill No. 1, the
ground was so dry that water
had to be brought to the well-
head to lubricate the drill.
then there had to be an ac-
ceptable overburden of shale
and rock above the limestone
formation. More than 1,600
feet of overburden were pene-
trated before the drill reached
the limestone.

It was also an essential re-
quirement that the limestone
strata under consideration be
completely saturated with
worthless brine. Hammermill
No. 1 can almost be consid-
ered an artesian brine well.
Lastly, the brine had to be
under pressure. This would
prove that the formation does

IWA

not “bleed” into another
“horizon” or formation. The
brine in Hammermill No. 1
actually rose to the top of
the well-head under its own
pressure.

The formation is so huge,
and will accept so much liq-
uid, that current estimates
are that Hammermill can in-
ject into the formation for
some 50 years with the in-
jected waste not exceeding a
circle of more than one and
one-half miles in radius from
the wells.

The pulping liquor is
passed into holding or collect-
ing tanks. It then moves
through a leaf filter. The next
stop takes it into surge tanks,
then the trap filter, then into
the high pressure pumps and
finally into the deep disposal
well. The cost of Hammermill
No. 1, the first in a proposed
series of four such wells, was
in excess of $400,000.

After a permit for the use
of the well was granted by
the State Sanitary Water
Board in late 1963, an order
immediately went out for
special equipment to filter and
handle the effluent. With the
brine already under its own
hydrostatic pressure, it was
necessary to obtain special
pumps capable of injecting
the wastes at pressures up to
1,000 pounds per square inch.
These pumps squeeze the ef-
fluent into the tiny pores of
the formation, thus forcing
the brine back to make room
for wastes.

“Although this first well is
still considered an experi-
ment,” said Dr. Donald T.
Jackson, vice president, re-
search and engineering for
Hammermill, “it has proved
up to expectations, and we
have commenced to drill the

second of the units in the
series. With the wells work-
ing satisfactorily we expect
to meet the State’s abatement
deadline substantially ahead
of schedule.”

Even with this first well in
operation, reported Dr. Jack-
son, the decrease in the
amount of foam and discolor-
ation may not be too notice-
able. But with four wells in
operation by early 1965, the
lake adjacent to the mill
should be in the same condi-
tion as it was before the com-
pany began to use its Neutra-
cel process that utilizes the
mixed hardwoods found in
the area. It was these hard-
woods, in fact, that caused
the current effluent problem.
With the new Neutracel pro-
cess for pulping hardwoods,
the spent pulping liquor can-
not be economically treated
by any known process.

Mr. Leslie said: “We esti-
mate that by the time we
complete the proposed series
of deep disposal wells, we will
have invested some $1,500,000
in drillmg and equipment
costs, plus the cost of chem-
icals that cannot be recov-
ered. All this, however, is a
small price to pay to continue
as a major industry and em-
ployer in Erie, Pa.”

Dr. Jackson reported that
the deep disposal wells could
in time become part of a com-
bination treatment and dis-
posal programme at Hammer-
mill wherein the most con-
centrated liquor could be
treated to regain the chem-
icals, and the more dilute liq-
uor pumped down the wells
as being too costly for treat-

ment. -

—Canadian Pulp and Paper
Industry.

GOODERHAM IN EUROPE

Tom Gooderham, CLC Re-
gional Director of Organiza-
tion in B.C., is representing
the Congress at the 3rd
Anglo - American - Canadian
Trade Union Conference at
Ditchley Foundation Park,
London. Cliff Scotton, editor
of the CLC’s magazine Cana-
dian Labour, will also be in
attendance.

The Conference will discuss
the impact of automation and
technological change on
Trade Union interests and
policies. The draft terms of
reference will consider:

ice Xs

i. The rate and extent to
which automation and
other forms of technolog-
ical change are being in-
troduced in the respec-
tive countries, and pros-
pects in this respect over
the next decade;

ii. Factors internal to par-
ticular industries or con-
cerns (including factors
of capital, management
and labour) limiting the
application of such tech-
nological changes.

B.

Problems and benefits asso-
ciated with technological
change, including those -re-
lated to

i. Labour redundance or
lay-offs;

ii. Changes in demand for
particular types of labour
or skill, or in regional de-
mand, and consequent
problems of training and

TOM GOODERHAM

re-training within indus-
try;

iii. Wage-rates and earning;
job evaluation;

iv. Promotion, wage differen-
tials, and inter-union de-
marcation and other prob-
lems;

v. Hours of work, paid vaca-
tions, retirement pay;

vi. Other conditions of work,

including psychological

and social factors;

Education and technical

training outside industry.

Cc.

The responsibilities of trade
unions, management and gov-
ernment in:

i. Facilitating technological

change;
ii. Minimising its possible ill
effects.

vii.

D.

The role and structure of
trade unions in industrial so-
ciety subject to rapid change
in respect of:

i. Economic productivity;

ii. Balance between different
industries, different skills
or unskilled and semi-
skilled labour;

iii. Stability of employment.