Texas Has One of Nations Ten Most Threatening Paper Mills

AUSTIN (August 1 2007) – A new report shows that almost one quarter of a million people in the Beaumont area are at risk from an accidental or deliberate release of toxic chemicals stored at a local paper mill.  TexPIRG used the new report to call on Congress to support upcoming legislation championed by Houston’s Sheila Jackson-Lee which would mandate such facilities to use safer alternatives.

TexPIRG public interest advocate Dr. Matthew Tejada said today “while petrochemical plants obviously pose the greatest chemical threat to the health and lives of Texans this report illustrates that the threats are not limited to areas dominated by oil refineries; toxics and unsafe chemicals are used at a wide variety of industrial facilities including everything from large paper mills to local water treatment plants.”

TexPIRG’s new report Pulp Fiction: Chemical Hazard Reduction at Pulp and Paper Mills details the specific threat to Texas which is home to two dangerous mills – the Texarkana Mill owned by the International Paper Company and MeadWestvaco’s Texas LP plant just north of Beaumont.

Across the country pulp and paper mills petroleum refineries chemical manufacturers and other industrial facilities use and store large amounts of hazardous chemicals that could be released in the event of an accident or terrorist attack.  The two Texas plants store and use chlorine dioxide.  Chlorine dioxide causes shortness of breath bronchitis and emphysema.  Acute exposure can lead to potentially fatal pulmonary edema.

Pulp and paper mills stand as a salient example of chemical facilities that present unnecessary risks to local communities. These facilities can implement readily available safer alternatives that eliminate or mitigate hazardous chemical threats to workers and the community in the event of an accidental or deliberate release.

Despite the advantageous safety and environmental benefits associated with chlorine-free bleaching most industrial facilities including Texas’ two paper mills have not switched to safer and more secure technologies. Hiring more guards building higher fences or installing more lights or cameras may all be a part of a chemical plants security plan but these measures do not reduce the source of the chemical threat to workers and communities.

Eliminating the use of deadly chlorine gas by switching to a safer process reduces the chemical hazard to workers and the community in the event of an accident or chemical attack. In addition chlorine free processes can also make facilities less attractive targets for terrorists and reduce the need for costly security measures.

Dr. Matthew Tejada
Public Interest Advocate