Last Thursday, the Coastal Commission unanimously approved a 5-year permit for Nordic Aquafarms to discharge tertiary-treated wastewater through the 1.5-mile long ocean outfall that was built for the pulp mill in the 1960s. The ocean outfall has attracted a number of potential developers since the pulp mill closed for good in 2008, including a quickly-withdrawn scheme to process gold ore with toxic chemicals like cyanide.As approved, the Coastal Development Permit includes additional ocean monitoring requirements that we've been calling for since 2021 to examine the effects of the discharge on the marine ecosystem. Coastal oceanography, water quality, and benthic habitat will be monitored for two years prior to any discharge to document current conditions. Once the facility begins to discharge, four rounds of monitoring will be required each year in spring and summer to inform a comparative evaluation of toxic algae and their toxins, plankton, and other organisms. Annual reports will be submitted and made available to the public on Dec. 1 of each year, with a final report in Year 5, after which the permit will be reevaluated. The 5-year period coincides with the term of the NPDES permit approved on Oct. 5 by the Regional Water Board, which also added important monitoring requirements after several hours of deliberation.Many locals remember the brown, toxic plume of untreated waste that the pulp mills discharged for decades. An end to this travesty was finally brought about by Surfrider Foundation's lawsuit, which in 1991 resulted in the largest Clean Water Act penalties ever levied in the Western U.S. In contrast, Nordic Aquafarms proposes tertiary treatment of their wastewater, which uses ultraviolet disinfection to destroy bacteria, viruses, and other microorganisms.Still pending are appeals of the County's Coastal Development Permit, as well as permits for upgrading the dilapidated bay intakes to provide the saltwater in which the fish would be raised. The bay intakes require mitigation for unavoidable impacts to larvae and plankton, since they cannot be kept out with screens that will protect larger organisms. But the bay intakes also mean that Nordic Aquafarms will be an ally for protecting the bay's water quality, in stark contrast to the other industrial developments that have been proposed at the site over the years.In March, Nordic announced the change to Yellowtail Kingfish (known as hamachi) rather than Atlantic Salmon. This switch eliminated concerns about disease introduction from importing salmon eggs, and the CA Dept. of Fish & Wildlife approved Nordic's aquaculture permit in July. It also reduced the project's size, with less water and energy consumption, less ocean discharge and feed than originally proposed, and without the need to relocate existing businesses.But the smaller project still means the former pulp mill smokestack, boiler building, and chemical tanks will be demolished and removed before construction can begin. A modern stormwater system will replace the pipes that currently discharge runoff into Humboldt Bay whenever it rains.Stay tuned for next steps on this proposal - our comments and other info are posted on this webpage.
