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Powell River Seven Powell River sites were studied in July in 1993 and in 2004. Willingdon (4 km) Westview (9 km) Texada Ferry (9.8 km) Texada Highway (12 km) Gibson's Beach (20 km) Keays Cove (28 km) Hornby Island (40 km) Changes In Powell River Sites Over a Decade Effluent quality at powell River has improved over the past decade. (See Figure 1.) Species richness at Powell River sites over the same time period have also increased. (See Figure 2.) Figure 1: Annual average effluent quality for NorskeCanada, Powell River Division (BOD=Biochemical Oxygen Demand, TSS=Total Suspended Solids, AOX = Adsorbable Organic Halides). Data kindly provided by Environment Canada, Pacific and Yukon Region, Environmental Protection Branch and Hatfield Consultants Ltd., 2004. Figure 2: Powell River intertidal species richness. Mean species richness was significantly greater in 2004 compared to 1993 for Powell River Z(7) = 2.37, p<0.05. (Bard, Shannon, De Raedemaecker, Fien and Willems, Wouter. (2005 Submitted) "A Decade Later: Intertidal diversity is increased as pulp mill pollution is decreased." Water Environmental Research Journal.)

Powell River Mill

NorskeCanada owns and operates a pulp and paper mill in Powell River , located at the north end of Malaspina Strait in the Strait of Georgia . Paper production began operation in 1912 using sulphite and mechanical pulp processes. A kraft mill, producing semi-bleached pulp, began operation in 1967 and the sulphite mill closed two years later. Thermomechanical pulp production started in 1975 but was converted in the early 1980's to a chemi-thermomechanical pulp process by means of sodium sulphite treatment of wood chips. In the early 1990's, the mill produced both semi-bleached and unbleached kraft pulp, chemi-thermomechanical and groundwood mechanical pulps. Prior to the instalment of a submarine outfall in 1993, the mill discharged effluent from two principal outfalls. Historically, effluent from the Powell River pulp mill has been recognized as a contributing factor to pollution in Malaspina Strait (Hatfield Consultants Ltd., 1994a). However, several improvements in the pulp mill's environmental standards over a period of years have greatly reduced the impact on this marine system. This text is an excerpt from Fien de Raedemaecker's 2004 master's thesis, "A GIS-approach to compare intertidal diversity and contaminant loading in the marine recieving environment of two pulp mills in British Columbia, Canada." Click here for the entire document and to view sources.

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All images ©2004 Shannon Bard. Use of images is prohibited without permission.