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INFORMATION SHEET <br /> SIMPSON PAPER COMPANY <br /> SIMPSON LEE PAPER COMPANY <br /> RIPON MILL <br /> SAN JOAQUIN COUNTY <br /> The Simpson Lee Paper Company (owned by Simpson Timber Company, Seattle, <br /> Washington) operates a paper mill located within the city limits of Ripon, San <br /> Joaquin County. The Ripon Mill is a paper mill which manufactures several <br /> grades of fine papers from purchased pulp. The mill ' s maximum daily <br /> production rate is 187,000 lbs (84,898 kgs) of paper. <br /> Waste Discharge Requirements Order No. 77-286, NPDES No. CA0004006, adopted by <br /> the Board on 16 December 1977, prescribes requirements for the discharge of <br /> industrial wastewater and stormwater runoff from primary and secondary <br /> treatment facilities at the mill . Order No. 77-286 (NPDES CA0004006) was <br /> rescinded by Waste Discharge Requirements Order No. 83-001 NPDES CA0004006, <br /> adopted by the Board on 28 January 1983. Order No. 83-001 expired on <br /> 1 February 1988. <br /> The Ripon Mill proposes to intermittently discharge a maximum 0.5 mgd of <br /> industrial wastewater from secondary treatment facilities to land. In <br /> addition, the mill will discharge a maximum 1.8 mgd (78.9 1/sec) of combined <br /> industrial wastewater and stormwater runoff from primary and secondary <br /> treatments to 90 acres (36.5 ha) . The mill facility occupies 220 acres, 35 <br /> acres (14.2 ha) of which are dedicated for effluent disposal and 55 acres <br /> (22.3 ha) are designated as USDA approved agricultural irrigation. <br /> Prior to July 1975, the Ripon Mill discharged to the Stanislaus River <br /> continuously or intermittently. Since July 1975, the mill has been able to <br /> contain all wastewater on land. The Ripon Mill no longer discharges <br /> wastewater into the Stanislaus River. The discharge of wastewater to the <br /> Stanislaus River or any other surface water or drainage course is prohibited. <br /> The Simpson Company, Ripon Mill , has applied for the waste discharge <br /> requirements, covering a discharge of waste to land in place of their <br /> discharge to surface waters. The Ripon Mill has proposed several changes to <br /> reduce the amount of salts in their discharge. These changes include using a <br /> weak acid cationization system instead of a cogeneration water softener brine <br /> regeneration system, altering the process chemistry to reduce alum <br /> consumption, and installing new water supply wells screened in deeper aquifers <br /> which have less dissolved salts. These changes should reduce the amount of <br /> salts in the final effluent to the percolation ponds, such that the level of <br /> salts in the discharge will not degrade water quality beneath the site. <br /> The Discharger's consultant, David A. Lawrence, C.E.G. 618, has certified that <br /> Ripon Mill discharge is not a designated waste. The Ripon Mill will conduct <br /> pond and ground water monitoring to confirm that the discharge is not <br /> impacting ground water. Additionally, the Discharger will be required to <br /> conduct a ground water study every five years to determine the effectiveness <br /> of the operational and wastewater management changes on reducing the amount of <br /> salts in the discharge and the overall impact to the aquifers below the site. <br /> RAE:lsb:3/23/93 <br />