How Bad Are The Pt. Townsend Pulp Mill Fumes, Really?

[Drew8888]

From WA State Dept Of Ecology: Air quality: Pulper upgrade project (July 23, 2019)
https://ecology.wa.gov/Regulations-P...Townsend-Paper

From Port Townsend Leader: Public leery of paper mill upgrade (July 3, 2019)
https://www.ptleader.com/stories/pub...-upgrade,62928

Here is a PT citizen's blog with tons of information about the mill: PORT TOWNSEND PAPER MILL
https://porttownsendpapermill.blogsp...d-so-many.html

Another citizen blog with frequent updates: Port Townsend Air Watchers
Port Townsend Air Watchers – Port Townsend Air Watchers


There are a couple of FB groups mentioned in the above blogs.

[Drew8888]

Another very interesting link from the Port Townsend Air Watchers blog which answers the question many people have about where the mill odor can be smelled:

Mapping PTPC Mill Odors & Fumes
Mapping PTPC Mill Odors & Fumes – Port Townsend Air Watchers

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Drew8888

Another very interesting link from the Port Townsend Air Watchers blog which answers the question many people have about where the mill odor can be smelled:

Mapping PTPC Mill Odors & Fumes
Mapping PTPC Mill Odors & Fumes – Port Townsend Air Watchers

Good map. I wonder to what extent the fumes affect residents on Marrowstone Island?

[Drew8888]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Good map. I wonder to what extent the fumes affect residents on Marrowstone Island?

At the bottom of that map page there are historical maps going back to 2015. On those maps there's a total of 2 complaints from Marrowstone. So it would seem Marrowstone is affected much less than Quimper Peninsula.

[pikabike]

Do not use complaints as an accurate reflection of the stink.

We smelled it plenty of times—some of them horribly strong—but never filed a complaint. Betcha most residents did not.

One of the worst occurred in late April 2011. We were staying as tourists in an Uptown lodging. I woke up feeling like a truck had run over me: exhausted, nauseous, incredibly weak. The stench was thick, heavy, and all-encompassing. I could barely get up. In a little while, the stink mass must have shifted elsewhere, because once I could breathe some better air, the symptoms faded. Our host said that level of stink happened maybe once or twice a year. After having lived there (but not Uptown), I would say it happened infrequently, BUT lesser levels of stink happened often. Not every day.

I did cough more often there than I have living anywhere else.

What really p’ed me off was reveling in the fresh and invigoratingly cool breezes that barreled east down the Strait of Juan de Fuca nearly every summer day, opening up house windows to let those in...and then waking up coughing or even gagging at night, when the sea breezes died and The Stink plumed outward from the paper mill. From pure bliss to hacking misery in the turn of the wind!

[rkcarguy]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

Thank you for the reality check. Didn't know about the mercury. Your experience corresponds (without the graphic detail) to what I've been told; Pt T is fine most of the time, but when the fumes hit, they can be devastating.

I'm curious about the $70mill upgrades. The mill must be doing ok financially, if it has that kind of money to spend. Or maybe some sort of Federal action required it of them? Or were they purely mechanical upgrades relating to modernization of production, and cosmetic improvements?

I used to fish and go crabbing in these area's, and there is "limited" to "do not eat" restrictions on things like crab, crawdad's, bass, and so on...basically the bottom-feeding critters and the things that eat them because they have been found to have mercury in them. Lake Whatcom for example has some nice bass in it, they even have some tournaments but they let the fish go which is typical anyway...but doubly so because of the mercury. Regarding the mill in PT, it's a beautiful area and all my other experiences there were good, just this one night the smell was awful and made me cough, gag and vomit.