ARCHIVED REPORTS_FIVE-YEAR WATER QUALITY REVIEW REPORT 11-17-2008

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Five-Year Water-Quality Report November 17,2008 Neenah Paper FR LLC Ripon Mill Page 9 of 19 Mill operations have been described in the Waste Discharge Requirements and other documents. Briefly,NP manufactures several grades of fine papers from purchased pulps. Process water is added to the pulps to make a pulp slurry which is then made into paper. Effluent from this process, along with some regeneration brine from the cogen plant, is collected and discharged into a primary clarifier. Clarifier effluent is discharged into two aeration basins, in sequence(ASB-1 and ASB-2). The first pond,ASB-1, is approximately 14 feet deep and is lined; the second,ASB-2, is unlined and approximately 5 feet deep. Effluent from ASB-2 is pumped to irrigation and percolation fields around the site. The average monthly flow from ASB-2 to the irrigation system during the period 2002 through 2007 was 31,313,000 gallons (1,043,770 gallons/day). The flow was relatively stable from 2002 through 2006. In 2007,the monthly flow increased between 30 and 60%, although recently(first half of 2008), the average flow has decreased to pre-2006 levels. Text Figures 2 through 4, 10, and 11 (previous pages) show wastewater flow, TDS concentration and mass, and concentrations of other parameters for ASB-2 for the period 2002 through mid-2008. Other ponds on the site(labeled Ponds 1 through 4) are unlined and used only to contain excess waste water in case of a system upset or a 100-year-or-greater storm event. Inert dewatered sludge from the clarifier and aeration basins is discharged to a lined sludge disposal area with a leachate-collection system. Leachate from the sludge pond is pumped back into the clarifier. The site also contains an inactive"closed" sludge disposal unit. Water for the paper plant is supplied by on-site production wells PW-6, PW-7, and PW-8, located in the southeastern part of the site near the Stanislaus River. The cogeneration plant is supplied with water from the City of Ripon. City of Ripon Wastewater Ponds The City of Ripon operates a municipal wastewater treatment facility(MWWTF) adjacent to the southwest quadrant of the NP site. The MWWTF treats an average of 1,000,000 gallons of domestic effluent a day. The system consists of a series of clay-lined ponds with a surface mechanical- aeration system to oxygenate the wastewater. Treated effluent water is disposed by percolation from 45 acres of disposal ponds. The City is currently under directive from the CVRWQCB to evaluate the impacts of effluent disposal on groundwater quality. Nestles Nestles USA formerly operated an instant coffee and tea processing plant, located approximately 2,000 feet north of the NP site, from 1948 through 1986. Solvents used in the decaffeination process, and their daughter products (trichloroethene, dichloroethene, and vinyl chloride) have impacted soils at the site and groundwater throughout the Ripon area. Nestles' consultant, Environmental Cost Management, currently operates two groundwater-treatment systems in the area 003044.02 Lawrence&Associates W.-Uients IFoxRiver-Neenah U year review reports U Year Review 2008Weenah-5YearReview Aug1008.doc