Environmental Studies of a Marine Wastewater Discharge from a Sulphite Pulp Mill – Example of a General Study Approach for Marine Industrial Discharges

Abstract

The results of comprehensive environmental studies of a marine discharge from a pulp mill is presented to illustrate a general strategy for environmental impact assessment and management of marine industrial wastewater discharges. The strategy includes the following elements: 1) a thorough chemical and ecotoxicological characterization of the wastewater which also involves degradability studies, 2) field monitoring, 3) cage studies with transplanted organisms, 4) hydrographical studies and subsequent dilution and fate modelling of wastewater and wastewater constituents, and 5) quantitative evaluation of the environmental impact as well as predictive evaluations of possible abatement measures by using the combined results of laboratory tests/chemical analyses and dilution/fate modelling to confine areas around the outfall, where adverse effects of various categories can be expected under various environmental settings. Results from field studies are used for comparison/verification. The present study deals with a discharge of unbleached semichemical sulphite pulp effluent which caused oxygen depletion and toxic effects, in particular towards phytoplankton algae. The usefulness of the general study approach was demonstrated and it was concluded in this case that biological field data alone gave limited clues to assessing nor to mitigating the pollution. This was due to the time and spacial variability of the data, and the limited possibilities of distinguishing effects of occasional oxygen depletion from toxic effects. Biological field studies were useful to assess the problem initially, however, and necessary to complement the calculated estimates both qualitatively and to give the study credibility.

Towards an internationally harmonized test method for reproductive and developmental effects of endocrine disrupters in marine copepods

“…At the same time, Bengtsson (1978) proposed an acute toxicity test method with N. spinipes, which was applied to study 78 compounds including pesticides and industrial chemicals (Lindé n et al 1979) and adopted as national standard in Denmark in 1990(Danish Standards 1990) and in Sweden in 1991(Swedish Standards Institute 1991. These methods can also be used to determine the toxic potential of effluents from chemical plants (LindgaardJørgensen and Kusk 1984;Lehtinen et al 1984) and pulp mills (Nyholm et al 1991;Tarkpea et al 1999).…”

“…Effects of industrial effluents on reproduction have also been measured in static or semi-static tests (LindgaardJørgensen and Kusk 1984;Nyholm et al 1991;Tarkpea et al 1999). Bengtsson and Bergströ m (1987) used a flow-through system to study effects on reproduction of N. spinipes.…”

“…A. tonsa was at that time cultured as food for fish larvae (Støttrup et al 1986). The potential to use this species for toxicity testing of industrial effluents (Nyholm et al 1991) was recognized, since a protocol for acute toxicity testing already existed (US Environmental Protection Agency 1978). Besides, bioenergetic studies of A. tonsa were performed by Kiørboe et al (1985) and food uptake was studied by Berggren et al (1988), who showed that the duration of all developmental stages is the same in this organism.…”

Pulp and paper effluent management

“…Nyholm et a/. 186 outlined a comprehensive approach to conducting environmental studies of marine industrial discharges. The approach included chemical and ecotoxicological characterization of the wastewater, field monitoring, cage studies, hydrographical studies with dilution and fate modeling of wastewater constituents, and quantitative evaluation of the environmental impact, in addition to predictive evaluations of possible abatement measures.…”