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by the Commission, would despoil the quality of the State's waters, and 

 would seriously affect its economic development. 



The policy guiding the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare on 

 this matter was stated by the Federal Water Pollution Control Advisory 

 Board, appointed by the President to advise on these matters of national 

 importance. That Board in its February 3, 1961, report to the Surgeon 

 General of the U. S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, stated 

 that the goal of pollution abatement is as follows: 



"The goal of pollution abatement is to protect and enhance the 

 capacity of the water resource to serve the widest possible 

 range of human needs. This goal can be approached only by ac- 

 cepting the positive policy of keeping waters as clean as pos- 

 sible, as opposed to the negative policy of attempting to use 

 the full capacity of water for waste assimilation," 



State Requirements For Control of 

 Pulp and Paper Mill Pollution 



The conference record includes copies of the specific requirements of the 

 State of Washington with respect to each of the seven pulp and paper mills 

 in the area in question. These permits and their requirements were de- 

 signed by the State with full consideration of the individual factors pre- 

 sent at each of the plants, in consideration of the location of the plant 

 and considering the reasonable and effective remedies available. The 

 seven pulp and paper mills produce, among other things, an organic waste 

 which is equivalent to that produced by over eight million people each 

 day. The State's requirements provide for removal of approximately six 

 million of this eight million waste load. The requirements will result 

 in the continued discharge of two million of this total eight million 

 waste load to the waters of Puget Sound and the Strait of Juan de Fuca. 

 The specific way in which the reduction of wastes is to be accomplished 

 is a determination to be left with the individual mills. 



Costs to the Pulp and Paper Mills 

 for Meeting State Requirements 



The record of the conference shows that a representative of the pulp and 

 paper industry stated initially that $30 million had been spent by the 

 seven pulp and paper mills to control pollution to date. On questioning, 

 the representative further stated that only 40 percent or about $12 mil- 

 lion was actually spent to control polluting wastes and that the balance, 

 $18 million, was spent in improving plant operations, in reclaiming fibers 

 or in otherwise improving the efficiency of the various mills. These 

 latter costs usually bring about savings in raw materials and in mill op- 

 erations. While they do reduce the amount of pollution produced by the 

 mills, these are efficiencies that industrial establishments would nor- 

 mally desire to undertake under any circumstances in order to avoid un- 

 necessary monetary losses. 



