PORT TOWNSEND — Port Townsend Paper Corp. is now in the weather business.
The local paper mill has installed a weather surveying system on top of one of its warehouses to monitor wind speed, wind direction, humidity, temperature and barometric pressure in the Glen Cove area.
“The weather station itself is a small apparatus, but there are a lot of pieces that go into it,” said Chuck Madison, spokesman for Port Townsend Paper, the largest private employer in Jefferson County at about 300 workers.
“If you bought everything and put it together yourself, you may be pushing $8,000 to $10,000 for the system.”
The weather station was installed as part of an agreement with the state Department of Ecology that the paper company signed earlier this year.
Under the agreement, the mill is collecting air emissions data on several chemicals, evaluating air emissions around the wastewater treatment lagoon and added an upgraded meteorological center to their facilities.
The new equipment will aid the mill in tracking temperature, wind speed and direction, relative humidity and barometric pressure in relation to an enhanced complaint tracking system for odor.
“When we get a complaint [about odor], we will be referring to information from the weather station so it gives us all the info,” Madison said.
“It should help in the long run, so if a certain inversion is occurring, we can pick that out.”
Community use
However, the station is not only for the mill.
Internet users can pull up the data as well by accessing the mill’s corporate Web site at www.ptpc.com/community.shtml.
The mill also is providing the data to national weather monitoring sites such as www.wunderground.com.
“The weather station allows community members to access live weather data for the mill site and investigate how current wind direction or weather conditions may be influencing area odors,” said Eveleen Muehlethaler, vice president of environmental affairs at the mill.
“The weather station provides high quality data that can also be used by local educators for science and math projects.”
Madison said he knows of a group of rowers who are accessing the information before they go to Port Townsend Bay in the morning.
“If the wind is blowing too hard, then they might not go out,” Madison said.
“Now they can check that from home.”
The station is one of several projects the mill has implemented in the past year.
While a health consultation released by the state health department earlier this year did not connect mill emissions with chronic diseases experienced by some area residents, the state did ask for more data — which the mill is now providing with the weather station.
The information collected under the new agreement will help the state better assess possible impacts to the area.
Earlier this year, when new Port Townsend Paper Corp. management came aboard, both CEO Charles Hodges and mill manager Roger Loney said they would focus on increasing the paper mill’s environmental consciousness.
Commitment to community
Madison said the company is following through on its commitment to the community.
“This, and everything else, is in line with everything we’ve been saying in the past,” Madison said.
“We are just following up on the commitments we make to the community.”
Earlier this year, the company confirmed a deal with the state Parks and Recreation Commission that adds 250 acres of property to nearby Old Fort Townsend State Park.
Under the agreement, Old Fort Townsend will monitor 220 acres of land owned by the mill through conservation easements and 30 acres will be added to the state park in the Glen Cove area.
Kate Burke, manager of the state park, said the 30 new acres likely will be used for new and expanded trails, while no development will be done within the conservation easement boundaries.
At the time of the land deal, Loney said the company would continue to act as a good neighbor to the community.
“Our commitment to the company’s environmental responsibilities continues to be a core value,” Loney said.
“It is our belief that if you run an operation safely, efficiently and in compliance with the regulations, you will be sustainable for the long haul.”
Loney said the company is continuing to find ways to both increase its environmental stewardship and to continue the practices it already has in place.
“Our operation is recycling every day,” he said.
“We are the largest recycler in Jefferson County, every day.
“We recycle old corrugated containers, recycled wood and a number of the items we used to manufacture our products — every day.”
The weather station also can be accessed at www.wunderground.com/weatherstation/WXDailyHistory.asp?ID=KWAPORTT9
________
Reporter Erik Hidle can be reached at 360-385-2335 or at erik.hidle@peninsuladailynews.com.
