Recreational Fishermen Noticed Fish Kill; Chemical Spilled Used in Security Paper

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has told Appvion that it failed to report a chemical spill and is asking the company to investigate, explain and plan to prevent future similar releases.

In a letter dated Sept. 17, 2020, the DEP stated, "On August 27, 2020 the [DEP} responded to a report of a fish kill in the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River. During an investigation of the incident, dead fish were observed over a 4.5 mile stretch of the river that extended upstream to an area approximately 500 feet below the Appvion industrial wastewater treatment plant outfall pipe."

Fishermen noticed

Recreational fishing social media websites noted the kill, with a moderator of paflyfish.com posting on Aug. 28, "Reported fish kill on the Frankstown Branch reported on FB ... Major fish kill being reported on the Frankstown Branch. Roaring Spring Paper Mill apparently had a chemical spill. No further details forthcoming. Please post more info as it becomes available."

Another fisherman posted, "I spoke to the person that made the report. No reported brown trout found dead and only warmwater species. I'm not saying this makes it any better, but just noting it was misreported with no wild trout OBSERVED to be affected."

Permit limit exceeded

The DEP stated that it contacted Robert Stasik, environmental manager for the Spring Mill plant, regarding the alleged spill.

"After contacting Mr. Stasik, Environmental Manager with Appvion Inc., the Department was notified of a chemical spill at the paper mill that entered the treatment plant on August 19, 2020. Mr. Stasik also mentioned that [a daily maximum permit limit] was exceeded on August 20, 2020."

The DEP subsequently conducted an investigation and noted that "Appvion failed to immediately report a spill of approximately 3,700 gallons of the chemical Chlorostain to their wastewater treatment process in violation of [the company's] NPDES permit."

NPDES stands for "National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System."

According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), a NPDES permit is issued under the The Clean Water Act, which prohibits discharging "pollutants" into a "water of the United States" without a NPDES permit.

A NPDES permit sets limits on what can be discharged, monitoring and reporting requirements, and other provisions to ensure that the discharge does not hurt water quality or people's health.

According to the product sheet from the company that makes it, chlorostain is manufactured especially for use in the production of security papers. This product cannot be detected as applied. However, when paper treated with Chlorostain is exposed to a commercial ink eradicator, an orange-brown stain develops. Chlorostain is often printed on check papers with the words "fraud" or "void", which appear immediately when an ink eradicator is applied.

The DEP report notes that chemical's official description sheet states that the substance is toxic to humans but does not indicate its effects if spilled into an aquatic environment.

Appvion produces thermal, carbonless and security papers at the Spring Mill plant. The company's headquarters is in Appleton, Wisc.

Investigation

Following news of the fish kill on Aug. 26, Frederick Clark, a water quality specialist with the DEP conducted an investigation, including a check of the affected streams.

Clark reported, "In the afternoon of August 26, 2020 I examined the stream from the Loop Road Bridge in Frankstown Township, Blair County, about 150 feet upstream of the elementary school and observed 8 dead fish. The fish were 6-12 inches long and included carp, catfish and white suckers. The fish appeared partially decomposed. The water in the stream was clear with a light reddish-brown tint. There was no noticeable sheen or odor, except for the smell of decaying fish."

Clark investigated further upstream and at the pipe where the plant discharges into the Frankstown Branch of the Juniata River, where he noted, "The discharge had its normal dark reddish-brown tint and mild odor. I did not see any dead fish at the outfall but did start to observe dead and decayed fish starting about 500 feet downstream, near the end of Cottage Lane. There were about 10 dead fish along the bank, some partially decayed or eaten and sometimes just skin or bones."

Further upstream from the outfall, Clark noted, "the water is clear and there were no signs of fish fatalities."

Clark called Stasik, who reported, that there "was an incident last Wednesday August 19, 2020. About 3,700 gallons of a chemical called Chlorostain overflowed from a holding tank and was conveyed to the industrial waste treatment plant. This incident was not previously reported to the [DEP]."

Stasik told Clark that when he was notified of the spill in the late afternoon of the Aug. 19, he (Stasik) "instructed his operator to perform field checks of the effluent at points within the treatment plant for ammonia. He did this because a similar Chlorostain spill in 2016 caused a permit exceedance for ammonia."

Stasik told Clark that "none of the ammonia checks conducted on the 19th showed abnormally high results and the ammonia level of the effluent was below the permit daily maximum."

Stasik also reported that "none of the ammonia checks conducted on the 19th showed abnormally high results and the ammonia level of the effluent was below the permit daily maximum."

DEP's conclusion

The DEP concluded that "Appvion failed to immediately report a spill of approximately 3,700 gallons of the chemical Chlorostain to their wastewater treatment process in violation of NPDES permit" and "In addition, Appvion indicated that they violated [an] effluent limit on August 20, 2020 and August 21, 2020 in violation ... of [its] NPDES permit."

The letter from DEP requests that Appvion "investigate these violations and submit a written report" to the DEP by Oct. 2, 2020.

The report is to include:

a detailed timeline of the events leading up to and immediately after the spill took place

an explanation the cause of the violations

a description of any actions taken

any measures put into place or planned to prevent future violations.

Clark reported that Stasik said "that based on his observation of the treatment plant and the ammonia testing results, he did not believe the chemical spill had an adverse impact on the plant or the plant effluent and that is why he did not report the incident to the DEP" and that "the company is investigating ways to prevent another overflow of the chemical storage tank such as changing the valving or installing a high-level alarm."

The Herald's information regarding this event came from documents provided by the Pa. DEP when requested.

Appvion did not return calls from the Herald requesting comment.

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Appvion Accused of Spilling Chemical Into Frankstown Branch - Morrisons Cove Herald