Idled pulp and paper mill in northern Ont. fined $525K for EPA violations

The mill was the main employer in Terrace Bay -- population 1,600 -- and nearby communities, including Schreiber and Pays Plat First Nation. (Township of Terrace Bay photo)

AV Terrace Bay has been fined for two Environmental Protection Act violations related to discharges into the water and air that exceeded guidelines.

The Terrace Bay mill, which has been idled since 2024, was fined for separate incidents in 2023.

In the first case, the mill was required to ensure that the discharged effluent would have a mortality rate of no more than 50 per cent for test organisms.

“The mill generates industrial effluent that undergoes primary and secondary treatment prior to discharging to Lake Superior via Blackbird Creek,” the Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks said in a news release this week.

Each month, the mill must test the effluent to ensure it doesn’t kill more than 50 per cent of test organisms, in this case, rainbow trout.

“On May 1, 2023, 100 per cent of the rainbow trout died during an acute lethality test performed on a grab sample of the mill’s final effluent,” the release said.

AV Terrace Bay immediately reported the incident to the ministry, as it is required to do.

“On the same day … the company obtained an additional effluent sample and tested it once a week for four weeks with no further reported failures,” meaning the failed test appeared to be “an isolated incident.”

The second violation is related to limits on sulphur emissions, which were violated four times on May 23.

Sulphur concentrations in the air can’t exceed 27 parts per billion in over a 10-minute average period more than two times in six months.

“AV Terrace Bay breached this prohibition on four occasions in May 2023,” the ministry said.

Again, AV Terrace Bay reported the breaches immediately.

For the two EPA violations, the company was fined a total of $525,000, plus a victim fine surcharge of $131,250, and given 12 months to pay.

AV Terrace Bay Inc. owns and operates a pulp mill on Mill Road in the Township of Terrace Bay. The mill converts wood into pulp using a kraft pulping process.

Due to financial constraints and market conditions, the mill has been in a warm idle state and has not been producing product or revenue since at least January 2024.