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Toxic releases from an industry in decline: Environmental trends in Maine's pulp and paper sector
Author(s) -
Auer Matthew R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
environmental quality management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.249
H-Index - 27
eISSN - 1520-6483
pISSN - 1088-1913
DOI - 10.1002/tqem.21594
Subject(s) - pulp (tooth) , pulp mill , paper mill , paper production , pollution , chemical industry , environmental protection , natural resource economics , environmental science , recession , business , waste management , environmental engineering , engineering , economics , ecology , medicine , mechanical engineering , effluent , pathology , biology , keynesian economics
Historically, the pulp and paper industry has been a cornerstone of Maine's economy, but it is also a major generator of pollution to the state's air and waterways. The industry has been in decline for several decades, with the most recent period of economic turmoil taking place in the aftermath of the Great Recession. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, pulp and paper manufacturing is among the top sources of the release of toxic chemicals. Hence, one might expect that as the sector declines, the by‐production of toxic pollution from pulp and paper mills would also decline. However, a comparison of the mills’ releases of seven major toxic chemicals in the year immediately before—2010—and the year immediately after—2016—the latest round of mill closures, shows that the absolute quantities of industrial releases of some toxic chemicals remained steady or increased over the amounts released in the precrisis period. More encouragingly, in the latter period, a greater portion of releases of toxic chemicals were managed in ways other than direct discharge to air and water.